High School Chronicles
by SuperSillyStories
Summary: Hailey Thorn is the new girl in school, well, the new girl in town really. A city girl who never really experienced the city at its full potential now trying to understand the easy-going Minnesota life. Will these four boys that seem to have caught her attention make her enjoy this new town, or force her to want to run away back to the city?
1. Paper Balls

**(I'm feeling fluffy today. Normal HS story with the boys of BTR! Will I make them popstars? I have no idea….But I'm feeling fluffy. OH also I have no idea what boy to pair her with…so, some suggestions would be nice. I have a bad habit of not finishing stories don't I? Actually a better question would be if I even should continue to write this…. Wow I'm a conflicted person aren't I?)**

I groaned pulling my cell phone off of the night stand and turning off the alarm. Seven in the morning, that should be a complete and utter crime considering my lack of sleep. Now I just moved from New York to Minnesota, of course my lovely parents would see that as a perfect opportunity. Older sister goes to college here, so we _have_ to move to be close to her. Little brother starting the fifth grade, I think…, pft he doesn't even remember who is friends are so it's no big deal. Yet no one thought to consider a sixteen year old might not want to leave in the middle of her high school career. Sheesh, I mean really—

"HAILEY! Get out of bed and get ready!" My mother yelled from downstairs. I don't know how she knew I was still lying in bed but alright… I swung my legs over and sighed, I'm pale. Do you ever just look at your skin tone and realize 'damn I'm pale', oh, well I do… Even with a summer tan I'm not that perfect dark caramel color. Well, that's what happens when you have dark red hair and hazel eyes, can't expect to have the perfect skin to match! I dragged myself to the closet and grabbed a pair of black shorts, a blue v-neck and black vans. Since we had just moved I didn't really unpack my clothes, I've been living off of pajamas since I refused to go outside.

Yes I plan on being a very pouty bitch about this situation.

The only thing I've really done about this room is paint it. I went with a nice bright green and black room, I think it looks spiffy. People do still say spiffy right? Either way, I like it. So I only have my bed, TV and Xbox 360, and computer set up. Everything else is packed away, probably should have been busy unpacking this last week, but with driving the sissy, Lori up to campus and listening to mom and dad cry and swoon over her, haven't exactly been in the mood. I grabbed my grey backpack and jogged down the stairs. When I got to the kitchen my dad was scarfing down bacon and eggs in his uniform. He used to work for the police department, so he filed for a transfer and in an area like this I guess it wasn't hard? The police department isn't too big maybe? Next time him my little brother, Tommy was reading a comic book while shoveling cereal into his mouth. My mom looked up from the counter and smiled at me. She was wearing a nice black and light blue pantsuit, ahhh mom, going back to the business world, good for her I guess.

"Gooooooooood morning Hailey, breakfast is on the table, take your pick." I sat down and stared between the cereal box or the eggs and bacon. I shoveled eggs and bacon between two pieces of toast and chowed down. My brother glanced over his Superman comic and shook his head.

"You eat like a man." His little pre-pubescent voice said.

"You eat like a girl. What's worse?" I snorted and drank some orange juice.

"Be nice…" My dad swallowed his food then looked at me with a smile. "Ready for your first day?"

"No…"

"Come on, some positivity please? We did this for you guys."

"Ummmmm, no…. you did it for Lori because you're afraid of her being too far away."

"Hailey!" my mom hissed and sat down at the table with her cup of coffee.

"What? It's true! I was perfectly content in New York, it was a good time."

"You stayed in your room for hours playing the violin. When you _did_ go outside you only went to the park with your friends. Not like you explored the city much."

"Exactly! Because I was too young to do the exploring but at the ripe age of enjoying the city you ripped me from its womb and I'm forever scarred." The three of them stared at me.

"Mom, Hailey's weird." My dad slapped the back of my brother's head lightly and he growled rubbing the back of it.

"Come on Hailey I'll take you to school." My dad stood up, his Officer Thorn tag falling onto the table. He quickly picked it up and clipped it back on before grabbing his phone and jamming it into one of the many pockets. "Yeah I'll take you to your school Tommy." My mom got up too after chugging the last of her coffee, ouch, kudos to her on that.

"Okay mom!" He got up and followed my mom to her car while reading the comic book. I guess the only _good_ thing about moving here was that we have a bigger house because of it. Living in New York? Holy shit, super expensive, living here? Not so much! I followed my dad out and saw that the police cruiser was parked there.

"Oh no way dad they're going to think a criminal is being dropped off at school."

"Hey, you're like a criminal that works!" He laughed and opened the door for me, I shook my head and when he started driving I fastened my seatbelt.

"That wasn't very nice you know…"

"Neither is you complaining to us about moving and laying the guilt on thick there missy, but I didn't call you out on it—oops…" He glanced over and smirked at me. Hmph, touché. You know what else isn't fair? He has green eyes and nice light brown hair. Meanwhile I got my mom's hazel eyes and red hair color. What the fuck, Lori and Tommy both look like dad. I'm jealous, I want brown hair and green eyes…shit man. The rest of the drive was quiet until he parked in front of the school, I took in a deep breath and looked out the window to see kids already staring at the car. "Have a good day sweetie, I love you."

"Thanks dad, love you too." I got out the car and kept my head down as I walked inside the building. Okay, first thing to do is find the main office…

There are too many hallways here to do that….

Okay, when in doubt, close your eyes and do what feels right. So I closed my eyes and felt an itch on my right side, so I took that as a sign to walk down the hallway on my far right. After a minute of panicking because I didn't see it, I saw the sign for the main office at the end of the hall. When I walked in there was this ADORABLE old woman sitting behind a desk. By adorable I mean she is so cute that I want to hand her knitting tools to make me a blanket… Wow that seems incredibly rude and stereotypical now that I think of it actually.

"Hi sweetie how can I help you?" She smiled wide.

Oh my god she is so cute!

"Hi! Um, I'm Hailey Thorn I'm new to this school so I'm here to pick up my schedule that was made for me….?"

"RIGHT! Yes of course should have known, I know most of the students here." She smiled again and her chair slid away from the desk and over to another one where she leafed through a file before pulling out a schedule and map of the school. "Here is a lock and the locker number and combination. Now you're also offered the option of having someone escort you to your classes for the first day until you get the hang of it, and to show you around the school. Would you like that?"

"Oh… no that's okay I think the map will suffice."

"You sure? I bet I could find a lovely young boy to show you around." She had a mischievous grin as she said that, wow go you old woman.

"OH! No um no that's fine thank you!" I grabbed the papers and began to head out of the office.

"Have a lovely first day!"

"Thank you!"

Wow what the fuck they are seriously nice over here. In New York if I needed a new program I would have had to pay a dollar and listen to the woman bitch and moan about kids always losing their programs. This is weird, maybe I'm in the Twilight Zone of America. I had some time before the first class would start, so first I went to find my locker because I have no idea how the fuck this works out, my high school never had lockers…

Took me awhile, but I found it! I opened it up, looked around and realized I need to decorate or organize this somehow. Anyways, I realized I really only have loose-leaf and a folder in my bag so there's no need for me to put anything in it. I went to my first class, math, disgusting, and sat there, filling out a contact information card and barely listen to the teacher as he explained his grading policy and what he expects from us. Eek how boring, I guess someone thought the same thing because while the teacher's back was turned a paper ball hit him right in the back.

"Who did that?" The class was dead quiet, I glanced around the room and saw one kid smirking, a short Hispanic boy just sitting there with his chin rested on his elbow. Wow, it's obvious he did it… Does the teacher not see that!? He turned back around to write our supplies on the board and once again another paper ball hit him. "HEY! I will figure out who is doing that!" He looked around again, but no one confessed. I glanced again at the kid who I suspected of doing it and he caught me staring. He grinned and winked before glancing at the teacher again. Wow, alright…. I copied down the supplies I needed and went to my next class, English, which the Hispanic boy also happened to have with me, but he seemed to have another mischievous friend with him. Some really tall pretty-boy with long hair. The two of them spent the entire period making paper airplanes and throwing them out the windows or up onto the light fixtures. Well, at least my classes will be interesting.

When it came to lunch I decided to familiarize myself with the building better, so I roamed the hallways trying to get a feel for it most of the time while nibbling on my sandwich. As I was walking I heard a chorus of screaming behind me coming from a room…a bathroom if that's what's behind me ? I turned around and started walking, yup it's the boys bathroom. It sounded like explosions going off which…is rather weird! As I got closer I heard yelling and saw the four boys laughing hysterically and leaning against the wall. A few kids had ran out the bathroom covered in water and god knows what else but they did not smell right.

Must have been cherry bombs in the toilets.

I chuckled and walked away, the rest of my day I had a class with at least _one_ of the pranksters in that little group of four. At least it'll make my day interesting. Maybe I'll talk to them tomorrow. At the end of the day I took all my textbooks and threw them into the locker, then waited outside on the steps for my dad to pick me up and drop me off at the house.

"Hey pumpkin, how was your first day? Make any friends?"

"No not really." I shrugged pulling the seatbelt on.

"So…how was it?" I thought for a moment, remembering the paper balls, airplanes and what I'm assuming was a cherry bomb bathroom incident.

"Oh, it was interesting…"


	2. Apple Pie

The next day my dad dropped me off once again and I walked into the school alone, quiet, like an outsider. Not sure why but after school yesterday I felt the need to unpack I guess so I wouldn't end up wearing pajamas to school. So I unpacked all of my clothing and set up some of my knick knacks. My violin was out but I have yet to touch it. I just haven't been in quite the mood to pick it up yet. I sat in my math class with my cup of coffee, they put a lot of air conditioning into this classroom so I was perfectly content with a hot caramel coffee. I was writing down the first problem of class when I heard the teacher groan. I looked up and he was flicking a spitball off of the board. I chuckled a bit and turned around. The Hispanic boy was grinning and putting his head down to his notebook. Before going over the problem the teacher called attendance, and I learned that little prankster's name is Carlos Garcia.

When we went over the first problem he called on Carlos who was in the middle of loading a spitball into his straw.

"UHHHHHHH….triangle." Carlos blinked staring at the board.

"Yes, that is in fact a triangle. Now how would we find angle A?"

" Uhhh…ask whoever drew the triangle?" He seemed so genuinely certain with his answer, the whole class laughed and the teacher sighed going back to the board.

"Not quite Carlos, anyone have an idea? Anyone?" The class stared at him blankly, I've done this before so I raised my hand with a sigh.

"You do sin three over five to find angle A."

"Good! Finally someone that's paying attention and you are….?"

"Hailey."

"Hailey right." The teacher nodded and continued on with the lesson. I think I made a mistake in raising my hand to answer that question. Now the teacher just looks to me first to answer a question, so when I don't raise my hand to answer it's kind of awkward. Never again, see that? Class participation is the death of me. When the bell rang I picked my stuff up and quickly left, ah math, I hate you. Right now it's easy but in two weeks the teacher will just blast us with a shit fan of difficulty and it will be so much worse, I can feel it. Anyways in my English class the pretty boy and Carlos were sitting together talking the entire time. I glanced over at them and they both grinned and waved at me, I wiggled my fingers back at them and went back to writing my essay about my summer, which honestly is a pointless topic but I digress… Not even a minute later a paper ball hit my face. I dropped my pen and glared at the two of them whose mouths were dropped open. The pretty one was mouthing the words 'so sorry!' while Carlos was mouthing 'read it'.

_Hey beautiful, what's say you and me catch a movie some time? ;D_

I looked up at the pretty one was grinning and winking at me. Okay, I'll give him credit his face is fucking flawless but that hair has GOT to go. I shook my head and crumpled the paper before returning back to my essay. I heard a squeak and a gasp, I guess he's not used to rejection huh? When class was over I started to walk down the hall to go to my science class when I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I glanced up the pretty boy had his hand on my shoulder and Carlos was walking beside him.

"You rejected me!"

"I did…"

"Why?!"

"Uhhhh I don't know you…" He blinked and looked at Carlos who shrugged and nodded.

"Oh, well I'm James, this is Carlos, and you're hot."

"Correction, I'm Hailey but at least you got the first letter right." The two of them looked confused and I sighed. "HI Carlos, I have math with you."

"AND English!"

"We just had English Carlos." James looked down at Carlos with a sigh. Carlos nodded eagerly.

"I know! Just saying!"

"Well as amusing as this is I have to go to my class…." When the door was in view I walked a little faster to get in. The two of them followed me in and looked around the classroom until their eyes settled on someone.

"Oh hey Logan!" James grinned and waved at him. "Yo Loges!" Carlos started waving too. I turned around to see Logan smile and wave at them in a way that said 'get out before the teacher kicks you out'.

"Gentlemen, I don't believe you have this class." The Ms. Cloud looked down at the two boys.

"You're right we don't, just saying bye to our friends. Bye Logan! Bye Hail-leeeeeey." James dragged out my name and winked as he left the doorway. Carlos stood there frantically waving at Logan, "See ya at Lunch dude! Bye Hailey!" I waved at the two of them and awkwardly kept my head down. My friends used to do that back in New York, walk into my classroom, say something loud or obnoxious and wouldn't leave until they were kicked out. They'd yell my name and make it known they were there to harass me, it was so embarrassing I absolutely dreaded those moments. Our teacher then announced we were going to work in pairs to analyze a strand of DNA. Immediately everyone stood up and ran to that Logan kid and they were tugging on his shoulders. Logan didn't know what to do with himself.

"HEY! Not everyone can be paired with Logan. We're not animals here people." Logan chuckled nervously as people sighed and ended up pairing with their friends. I looked around and there was no one left.

"No partner Hailey?" Ms. Cloud stood in front of me.

"Uhh no…" She looked around and her eyes settled on Logan who sat there looking around the room.

"Logan! You'll be paired with Hailey today." Logan nodded and the two of us awkwardly stared at each other until he stood up and moved to sit beside me at my table.

"Hey uh…..soooo I'm Logan…."

"Logan.." I nodded and stuck my hand out. "I'm Hailey."

"Nice to meet you Hailey. You're new to this school aren't you? I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah I just moved to town actually." I nodded opening my note book.

"Really? From where?"

"New York."

"Wow big city, huge difference huh! What do you think so far?"

"It's um…it's really different. I haven't really explored or experienced this place but it's okay so far."

"You'll like it." He smiled at me taking the microscope from the teacher. "Hey, I have another class with you don't I?"

"Oh um.. I think we have history together and Spanish."

"Yeah! I knew you looked familiar." He smiled a bit and the two of us got to work on our DNA strand. I gotta say, thank god he's my partner I'm a fucking **mess** when it comes to science. I couldn't tell you the difference between water and a cloud. Well I could.

Actually….

Alright never mind, I'm horrible at it but he's been explaining it to me so this work isn't as bad as I would have thought them to be. When class was over we said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. Okay, so Logan, James, and Carlos. They seem like an okay bunch. As usual I roamed the hallway while eating my sandwich to see what there was around here. I'm trying to find out if there's a music club or group that I could be a part of, this school doesn't seem like they have a lot though. I walked to the cafeteria to check it out. Honestly I've never gone to the cafeteria yet because I always have a sandwich and can of soda with me. Salami and provolone, that's just how I roll. When I walked in I looked around and noticed the three guys from earlier today sitting with another kid. Carlos had two full lunch trays for himself. Damn, that kid has an appetite. I kept walking like a moron not watching where I was going and I crashed into someone.

"HOLY SHIT I AM SO SORRY!" I looked at the girl in front of me, a petite brunette who now had pudding and string beans on her shirt.

"What the hell!?"

"I'm sorry! It was an accident I wasn't watching where I was going—"

"Clearly you weren't. Do they not teach you how to walk up in New York?" I stepped back and furrowed my eyebrows at her. Wait what? "Yeah, only new girl in school, word spreads around don't stand there like a retard get out of my way!"

"Ew what a nasty attitude you have."

"yeah and you have a nasty accent."

WHAT?!

I do NOT have an accent! Everyone speaks the way I do I don't…waaaaait a minute. I probably do.

"…..Well your face is nasty."

"EXCUSE ME BITCH!?"

Woopsies. Okay, maybe that was a poor choice of words. I looked around and people were staring at us. Well, if I wasn't known before now I certainly am.

"I was just saying how the pudding really brings out the ugly in your face." I stared at her with a blank expression. Wow, I know what I'm saying is fucked up but I can't seem to stop myself! She was being mean! I would have gladly gotten her a new lunch and helped her clean up but no she had to sound like a little bitch bag. Bitch bag is in fact an insult, I don't know what it means, I just like the way it flows.

"WHY YOU LITTLE—" She reached out for me but someone stood in front of me.

"Hey Taylor! It was all just a big mistake why don't you ease up and leave her alone huh? New girl new day don't sweat it."

"UGH! She's one of your friends isn't she? Watch your little group Diamond you guys are fucking pissing me off." She stormed off and the one who stood in front of me turned around, turns out it was James!

"Uhh….hi James?" He shook his head with a laugh and draped an arm around me, walking me to his table.

"You just start fights all willy-nilly in the big city don't you?"

"No! She was mean, I was mean back it's just how I work."

"Well that could have ended badly." Logan commented as he kicked out an empty seat for me besides James and some blonde kid.

"Yeah so um….thanks for stepping in James."

"Oh I can't let that bitch beat up a pretty girl like you." James smiled. Carlos snorted and I glanced at him.

"Also because him and that girl went out for two weeks, he hates her with every fiber of his being." Carlos said, bits of corn dog spitting out and landing on my shirt. "Woops, sorry."

"No harm done I'm not that…Taylor girl." I said flicking off the bits of food which made them laugh.

"Oh, Hailey that's Kendall he has class with us too." Logan nodded, I turned and glanced at Kendall who stuck his hand out and smiled.

"Nice to meet you Hailey."

"You too Kendall." I smiled back and shook his hand. Immediately the boys jumped into conversation about James and that Taylor girl. They continued to tease him relentlessly which was honestly pretty funny to listen to. After that we went to our following classes where I got to sit with Kendall and Logan, or James and Kendall, depending on what the class was. Actually, in my elective which was chorus, I have that class only with James. He acts like _such_ a diva with a voice of god. At the end of the day my dad picked me up in the cruiser and dropped me off at the house. I got started on making a snack for Tommy and I when the doorbell rang.

"Mom said don't answer the door to strangers." He said, not looking up from his Superman comic.

"Mom also said don't pick your nose but you still do it." He snorted and I rolled my eyes pulling open the front door. This woman with pretty red hair and a shorter brunette girl stood side by side. The little girl tugged on a hand behind her and out popped Kendall standing there.

"Hi! I'm Jennifer Knight this is Katie and I heard you already know my son Kendall." The two of us smiled and waved at each other. "We're your next door neighbors. I wanted to bring you something when you first moved in but you all looked so busy and were barely home so I figured now would be good timing." She held out an apple pie and oh my god it smelled like the most amazing thing in the world.

"Wow thank you this is so sweet! It smells amazing." I heard footsteps and looked down to see Tommy standing there with his comic book.

"Ohh, gimme."

"Dude, what do you say?"

"Please gimme." He looked at the door. "Oh hi Katie."

"Hey Tommy." The two waved at each other and Tommy grabbed the pie from me, retreating back inside.

"He doesn't have the best social skills I'm sorry."

"It's cool, Katie isn't that nice either." Kendall joked putting an arm around his little sister.

"Hey!"

"Only kidding Katie." He smiled and I chuckled a bit.

"Well thank you Mrs. Knight, I'll tell my parents when they get home, I'm sure they'd love to thank you in person."

"Oh of course! You two are welcome over any time you want I know what it's like to be a busy parent, so feel free to stop by."

"Why thank you we'll be sure to do that." I smiled and waved as the three of them left, Kendall turned around, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey do you want to hang out later? The guys and I are gonna hang around, skate and stuff, want to join?"

"Um, maybe I'll see what time the parents get home okay?"

"Sure, we'll be next door." Kendall waved and went back into his house. I closed the door and turned around to see half the pie already gone.

"TOMMY! What the hell man?"

"What? It's really good."

"Don't be so selfish save some for everyone else." I took the pie and started walking to the kitchen to put it away. He tackled my legs so I fell to the ground, then he picked up the still in-tact pie and ran away to his room. "NO THIS IS MINE!"

Wow, that little bastard.


	3. Jelly Beans

So I didn't go hang out with the guys that day. Mom stayed late at work and my dad was stuck because a prisoner escaped, so it was just Tommy and I. After he ate the whole damn apple pie he felt sick to his stomach. Good, that's what he gets for not sharing…. But I still took care of him. I gave him ginger-ale, made him soup when he was hungry, I'm a pretty nice older sister.

Wow, let me rephrase that. I CAN be nice, when he's sick, it's my duty to make him feel better even if he's acting like a little bastard. The rest of the week went by rather smoothly. The boys are actually pretty fun to hang around with. They make the class time go by in a snap. Well, as fast as it possibly could go I mean, it is school after all so it's bound to be incredibly boring. On Friday night the boys invited me to go hang out but I couldn't. Friday nights are date nights, mom and dad come home, order pizza for us, then leave to do whatever it is that they do on a date which quite frankly I have no interest in finding out ever. Kendall said I could leave Tommy with his mom and she could watch him but I feel bad doing that you know? I told them any other day would be fine.

Now it's a lovely Saturday morning. I have not had the curtains opened in my room since I moved in, so when my mom walked in and ripped them open to reveal extremely intense sunlight, I nearly died.

"Come on Hailey it's already eleven. You shouldn't be sleeping in so much that's not healthy."

"….Alright mom." I groaned and got out of bed and walked like a zombie to the door.

"WALKER!" I jumped when I heard Tommy yelling at me. I turned around and he was aiming a toy gun at me.

"I'm not a walker."

"Well you look like one."

"You need to stop watching television."

"You need to take a shower because you smell…" I turned around to chase him and he yelped and ran down the stairs to the protection of my mom. I jumped into the bathroom and took a shower, brushed my teeth, and pulled back on my pajamas after drying off. I got to my room and dried my hair, looking around. Everything was slowly coming together, but I didn't feel like setting my room up quite yet. So I grabbed my violin case wiped off the dust and threw it open. Ahhh my baby, I named it Sherlock. I grabbed the violin and the bow and sat on the window sill to play. I used to do a lot of classical pieces in school obviously, but in my free time I like to do covers of other songs from bands like Panic at the Disco or The Killers, it amuses me. I had been playing for a while, I know that much. I get lost into this zone as I play, I close my eyes and just do whatever pops into my mind. After a bit I was broken out of my trance by the sound of yelling. I sat up and turned around to see Kendall waving his arms out the window. Wow, I guess our bedrooms are across from each other.

"Hey! Damn you've been playing for hours."

"Really? What time is it?" I asked after opening my own window wide enough to stick my torso out.

"Three! Do you want to hang out? I'm off from work today I thought you could finally come hang out with me and the guys."

"Oh ummm…yeah….yeah sure! What are we gonna do?"

"We'll probably just hang out inside for a bit then go to the park."

"Okay sure um…I'll be there in a bit."

"Great!" Kendall grinned and left the window leaving it wide open. I put my violin away and closed my window before looking for something to wear. It's pretty hot outside, I guess denim shorts and a green polo works, plus some sneakers. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail while looking for a bag to put my keys and phone and wallet. Not much but I can't fit them in my pockets! That's just not going to happen. After finding a purse I quickly jogged downstairs.

"Mom I'm going out!"

"Where?" She left the kitchen wiping her hand on a dish towel.

"Next door to the neighbors to hang out…"

"Oh, that's with Kendall isn't it?"

"And Carlos, James, Logan…."

"A lot of boys don't you think?" She raised an eyebrow and leaned on the doorframe.

"Um, what are you suggesting?"

"What are _you_ suggesting Hailey?"

"I'm suggesting I'm just going over there to hang out and not doing anything sexual or illegal mom…"

"Alright…." She looked me up and down before turning her back to me to go back to the kitchen. "Keep me posted."

"Okay….bye Tommy!"

"Bye stupid!"

Wow, I should have let that little fucker stay sick when he ate the entire apple pie. Hmph. I knocked on the door and Katie pulled it open.

"KENDALL! HAILEY'S HERE! Hi Hailey."

"Hi Katie." She walked away and I stepped in as Kendall was coming to the door. "Hey Hails."

"Hails huh? That's new."

"Oh yeah we're thinking that'll be your new nickname. Cool huh?" He grinned as he closed the door behind me.

"Oh very nicely done." I chuckled and walked over to the armchair sitting down. As soon as I sat down the door shook with several fists banging on it. Kendall rolled his eyes and opened the door. Carlos tumbled in, crashing to the floor along with James. Logan stood behind the two of them, shaking his head before stepping over them. "Hey what's up man? Oh look Hailey's here!" Logan grinned and walked over, flopping down on the couch. "Finally want to hang out with us huh?"

"Hey I've been busy every time you guys hang out don't make it seem like I hate you!" I chuckled and Logan shrugged. James and Carlos quickly stood up and before I knew it James was sitting on the arm of my chair draping an arm around me.

"Well hello there beautiful, glad to see you're joining us today!"

"Still not seeing a movie with you James."

"You'll come around to it, they all do!" He winked and walked away to jump onto the couch.

"Come on James we actually have a female friend that can tolerate the four of us and you have to go date her?" Logan turned to James who eagerly nodded.

"I'm right here you guys." I waved to them and they stopped talking.

"LET'S WATCH THE CARTOONS!" Carlos grabbed the remote and put on cartoons. I stared at him and shook my head before watching the TV. Carlos is interesting enough, incredibly entertaining. It's like watching a child in a teenager's body. A teenager that tackles his friends and likes to start fights, still nice though. Turns out his dad is a police officer, so our dads work together which is pretty cool. Logan's fun, he's really super smart and pretty easy-going, a bit of a pansy though. James is very self-centered from what I can see, I don't know about him. Sings really well though. Then there's Kendall, it's almost like he's the parent of the group he's very easy-going and sweet and level-headed. So this group is pretty well-balanced.

After watching cartoons for a few hours they showed me where the local park was, and I have to say it's pretty cool. It's so big and spacious and….grassy, very nice. We were running around playing tag for a little while. Logan runs pretty fast, I still think he was cheating, not sure how but it happened I know it did. Anyways when the swings were free I ran like hell to get one, I love swings so….these need to be mine. I got there first and immediately took a swing. James Carlos and Kendall each got a swing too.

"HA I WILL SWING HIGHER THAN YOU CARLOS!" James said pumping his legs.

"Dude no way I will so win!"

"I think you are all failing to forget I am the King?" Kendall smirked and began swinging too. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh please boys, everyone knows it's all hail the queen."

"OHHHHHHH" The three of them yelled.

"WE HAVE A CHALLENGER!" James shouted. The four of us were swinging and I realized Logan wasn't with us.

"Hey wait where's Logan?" We all stopped swinging and Kendall stood up looking around. His eyes narrowed at the place we just ran from.

"Over there, James Carlos come on, Hailey you stay." The other two stood up and followed Kendall to Logan, and the three of them were running, which didn't make me feel too good. I squinted and got a better look, some guy just pushed Logan and he fell to the ground. HEY THAT'S NOT RIGHT WHAT THE HELL!? I thought Minnesota people were nice what the hell is this? I can see James helping him up as Kendall stepped forward and started talking to the three guys. Carlos stood beside Kendall with his arms crossed over his chest, oh gosh this kid is going to start a fight. I really want to walk over there but it's really not my business is it? What if I instigate a fight or it's some…private issue they have to settle. It's not my place I really should let them take care of it themselves.

Well, just noticed Carlos put a helmet on his head and tap it twice. Not sure where that helmet came from but hey I'm not willing to ask that question. Okay, now Carlos has just tackled someone. Holy shit. The boys quickly pulled Carlos off of the guy before a huge fight ensued. Seems like Kendall stepped in between the two groups of guys to mediate it. After a few moments they started to walk back over to me so I got off the swing and met them halfway.

"Hey what was that? You okay Logan?"

"Yeah I'm fine Hailey." He nodded while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Just some assholes trying to bother Logan." James said ruffling Logan's hair.

"Yeah cause Logan is too smart for them." Carlos nodded quickly.

"Ummmm….want to explain or we're leaving that topic alone….?" I looked between the four of them and Logan shrugged.

"It was nothing really. I did a competition in the summer. One of the stores was having this 'guess how many jelly beans are in the jar' competitions and—"

"LOGAN GOT THE ANSWER IN UNDER A MINUTE AND WON TWO HUNDRED BUCKS!" Carlos shouted.

"Yeah and the four of us split it." Kendall nodded.

"Aw that's so nice of you Logan!" I smiled and he shrugged. "Well I owed them for coming along with me to a mathematics convention so…"

"Wow, maybe fifty a pop wasn't enough." I laughed and shook my head." So what….they lost and they were mad?"

"Yeah they insisted Logan was cheating and that the money is theirs, they're just idiots." Kendall said. "But forget about them! How about the four of us go and get us some ice cream huh? We need to start planning for Halloween anyways, we need to list out all of the houses to hit and what our costumes should be."

"CAN WE BE SUPERHEROES!?" Carlos asked as we started leaving the park.

"Dude you suggest that EVERY year." Logan whined.

"Because we haven't done it for years! Last year we went as a hockey team, the year before that we were all _doctors_. LAME."

"Hey that is not lame!" Logan defended.

"LAME!"

"Is not."

"IS TOO!"

"IS NOT!"

"IS TOO!"

"NO IT ISN'T!" Logan tackled Carlos and the two of them were rolling around on the ground. Logan and James quickly pulled them apart.

"Okay okay stop fighting, we'll figure something out." Kendall reasoned. "You can join us Hailey."

"Yeah maybe, depends on if I have to watch Tommy that day."

"Well if anything you can bring him with us." James shrugged, "unless we go to a party, I don't know if he should be exposed to me picking up all the fine ladies, unless he needs some guidance in that."

"Dude why would he need guidance in that from **you**? You can't even pick up his sister." Logan laughed. James glared at him and tackled him.

Wow these boys do a lot of fighting…


	4. Stink Bombs

(**Thank you Carlos'sCupcakes, wordsandwonders, Taylor Shine, and BeccaRawrsATL for the reviews! I still have no idea who to pair this chick with lmfao. Oh, and I was watching Haven, so that' why I picked the name Duke…duke…..dduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke)**

It turns out the school does in fact have a string club, so now after my last class I go to the top floor of the school and play my violin for one hour three times a week. Right now we're working on the Chorus of the Huntsmen, a fun piece that sounds really nice. As we were playing the song suddenly the room began to smell awful. I mean it smelled like something died in there…a million years ago. It sounded like a bunch of gun shots going off we stood up screaming and yelling and ran out the room. I sighed slamming the door behind me, being the last one I sunk to the floor against the door trying to breathe in the fresh air. I heard a chorus of laughter and looked down the hall to see James slumped over in laughter. Carlos was rolling on the floor laughing hysterically, Kendall was clutching the wall to steady himself while Logan held onto his shoulder laughing. Oh my god….they pranked us.

"You!" I pointed at them as I walked forward and they tried to stop their laughter but couldn't." You fuckers you ruined rehearsal!"

"Oh come on lighten up you guys get three days a week!" James reasoned as he stood up straight, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I don't mess with your practice! Don't mess with mine." Honestly the prank was funny but everyone left, that's what pissed me off. "Everyone left and now I have to put away all the instruments, so THANKS guys. Maybe wait till next time when I'm not there." I turned around on my heel and walked back to the stinky ass room. Ugh, the teacher wasn't even here today we stayed in rehearsal by ourselves so I have to put away all the instruments. I love it when people run out the room letting cellos or basses falling to the floor. I pulled my shirt up to cover my nose and knelt down picking up some of the instruments and dragging them to their cases. When the door opened I turned around, surprised to see James walking in with a bandana wrapped around his mouth and nose.

"You look like you're going to rob a place."

"Well I'm not enduring this smell that's for sure, we threw three in here." James laughed and bent down picking up a violin and bow, then packed it into a case.

"…..You're helping me…." I stopped putting the cello away to stare at him. He shrugged and nodded, dragging a bass over to its stand.

"Well it was kind of my idea." I glared at him with my arms crossed. "Well you embarrassed me in chorus today. You told everyone I spend hours doing my hair and getting ready in the morning and that I talk to myself in the mirror."

"But you do…."

"Yeah but you didn't have to tell everyone Hailey, I am a guy you know." He put the bass on its stand and crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me. Okay guilty I definitely embarrassed him in class today…

"Wow uh…I'm sorry James I actually… I didn't think that would bother you since all you guys rag on each other all the time."

"Yeah I know we do but that's just when it's us, not in front of the whole class." He walked closer and looked down at me. Oh god…I feel….bad, what is this blasphemy?

"I'm uh….wow I'm really sorry then James. Are we cool?"

"Yeah we're cool I gassed out your rehearsal, consider us even." He hugged me and I chuckled and hugged him back. The two of us put away all the instruments, chairs, and stands then left the room.

"So where did the guys go?"

"Well our hockey practice got canceled today so knowing them they're at Kendall's house. Which reminds me you definitely have to go to our first game this Wednesday."

"I will definitely be there to show my support!" I smiled and the two of us walked to Kendall's house which, in reality is quite a long walk. When we got there Kendall opened the door and grinned.

"Oh well look at that, the two of you didn't kill each other, come on in." The two of us walked in and I could see Tommy sitting with his comic book next to Carlos, who was also engrossed in one of his comics.

"Hi Tommy!"

"Hi." He didn't look up, he just continued reading. Yeah, the school bus drops him off during the week and I'm usually here to watch him but since I joined that club I haven't been home, so he stays next door until I get back.

"Come on Tommy time to go home."

"Oh nonsense, why don't you two stay?" smiled warmly from the kitchen. "Your parents aren't home yet, stay for dinner everyone else is! We're having dino nuggets and tater tots, their favorite."

"Mooooooooooooom." Kendall groaned clearly embarrassed and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Thank you very much we'd love to stay, wouldn't we Tommy?"

"Yes. Thank you." Tommy nodded turning a page. Dude that little kid and comic books I feel like he's going to become a sociopath and follow the steps of some of these villains. Well it's superman so it's not so bad but if he was reading Batman I'd be concerned. Hm, note to self, don't buy him Batman comics.

"So how bad did that room stink?" Carlos grinned putting down the comic book.

"It was dreadful, I'll get you guys back that's for sure." I sat on the floor in front of the sofa where they were all seated.

"Oh yeah? How so! You're not a mastermind like us." Logan challenged, earning high-fives from the rest of the guys.

"Maybe I'll find those guys that want to beat up Logan and become their friends, I'll switch teams, that's pretty evil and mastermind-ish." I grinned at them and they all froze staring at me. "I'm kidding, sheesh."

"Alright good because that would just be pure evil." Kendall sighed of relief. A little while later all of us gathered around the TV because 's dinner table was too small to fit all of us. We ate dinner and joked around, then after helping her with the dishes I took Tommy home.

"Hey kid this Wednesday is the guys' first hockey game and I'm going to go so you have to come with me okay? I'll pick you up after my rehearsals and we're going to see them okay?"

"Fine but hockey is a dumb sport."

"….so are you." He snorted and walked to his room when we got home. Wow what a lovely kid that little booger is. I remember when he was younger, he was so much cuter, then they learn to speak in full sentences, sigh…

**That Wednesday**

After picking Tommy up he insisted I buy him snacks to eat during the game, so he could try to get in the moment…. Yeah whatever, I bought him a bag of popcorn and the two of us ran over to the local hockey rink and quickly took our seats in the front, we're lucky we even got those seats people here are going crazy over this game…

"Excited Tommy?"

"I suppose!" He munched on his popcorn looking on the ice for any of the guys, which I was also doing. Finally they skated out and I grinned clapping. Only thing I noticed though is that they look scary once they hit that ice. Carlos usually looks like a happy go-lucky kid, but I watched as he pulled on his helmet, tapped it twice and got into position and it was a fucking sight to see. The game started and it was as though I was watching a battlefield. The guys seem to know exactly what they're doing and have the perfect timing, like if they're speaking to each other telepathically it's crazy to watch, and they're really freaking good.

"OH MY GOD!" Tommy and I jumped back as James slammed someone into the divider between the ice and the audience. James looked up, grinned and winked.

"Hey guys!" Then continued to skate away. I sat there shocked and glanced down at Tommy who had crushed the bag of popcorn with one hand.

"THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!" He stood up eagerly to watch the game. Huh looks like someone likes hockey now! "GO JAMES! YEAH!"

I smiled a bit, happy that he's finally enjoying something else and continued to watch the game. Even Logan gets pretty intense which is really surprising, I never expected him to be so into hockey like the rest of them are, but who am I to judge? While we were watching the game one of the opposing guys tripped Logan with his hockey stick and Logan went flying on the ice. Carlos threw his stick down and tackled the guy, which incited a fight between him and the kid, plus Kendall and James joining in to back up Carlos. Thankfully they were pulled apart though but Carlos was pulled out and put in the box. Tommy got up and ran over to him, I followed just to make sure.

"CARLOS THAT WAS AWESOME ARE YOU OKAY!?" He was jumping up and down. Carlos looked at me surprised but quickly grinned at Tommy.

"I'm awesome, you like hockey now don't you?"

"YES! You guys have to teach me I want to be awesome like that."

"Sure thing buddy we'll teach you how to be a super totally awesome hockey star." Tommy grinned happily and high-fived Carlos before we went back to our seats. Kendall was about to make the shot but two people shouldered him into the barrier, thankfully Logan was behind Kendall, he was able to make the shot for him.

"HEY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" I jumped up in my seat glaring at the two guys who hurt Kendall. Carlos was standing up too, he looked like he was going to jump back into the ice.

"YEAH WHAT WAS THAT?!" Tommy jumped up too shouting. James helped Kendall up, who was rolling his shoulders and he looked like he was in pain. "Carlos is he gonna be okay?" Tommy yelled.

"Yeah he'll be fine…. COME ON KENDALL!" Carlos shouted and started clapping, of course Tommy joined in, so I joined in too. Kendall grinned and waved us before returning to the game. A little while later Carlos was able to return and Tommy and I watched in anticipation as the game picked up. When the game was over the boys won by twenty points more. Tommy was yelling and jumping up and cheering, it's crazy I haven't seen a side of him like this before. Logan skated over to us while the guys were going back into the locker rooms.

"Hey how was that?" He grinned and before I could answer Tommy was doing all the talking.

"THAT WAS SO EPIC! You guys are AWESOME I want to play hockey!"

"Wow I'm glad!" Logan grinned, "That's cool buddy, we'll teach you this weekend, sounds good?"

"Yes!"

"Great!" Logan grinned and turned to me, "So we're all going to grab some pizza to celebrate want to come with?"

"I don't know…..us joining your whole hockey team for pizza I don't think—"

"Yeah we'll go!" Tommy answered quickly, I glared down at him and he shrugged.

"Alright well we'll see you outside soon just meet in the front." I nodded and turned away with tommy.

"Gee thanks for answering for me Tommy."

"Well I wanted to go."

"We both have homework to do we can't stay out late."

"It's not late! Besides I do my work at Katie's house because I'm responsible." Then after that he lifted his comic book to his eyes and continued to read until the guys game out. There was no missing them either , they loudly made their presence known. Tommy ran over and started talking to all the guys immediately , his words flying at a million miles a minute. One of their team members walked over to me and grinned.

"Hey I'm Duke." He grinned and stuck his hand out to me. I shrugged and shook it.

"Hey Duke, I'm Hailey." We shook hands and awkwardly let go. "So good game, congratulations on your win!"

"Thank you, it's always nice when a pretty girl comes to support us." He grinned again, I looked him over and notice he had dark brown eyes and curly dark brown hair, that's cool I guess. Before I could answer James walked over and draped an arm around me.

"Ohhh Hailey girl I see you've met Duke." I scrunched my eyebrows together watching the two of them stare at each other. "He's the flirt of the team just ignore him."

"Aren't you a huge flirt too James?" I glanced up at him and his face froze looking for the right words to say.

"That's different, I…. am a nice huge flirt. He's a dick."

"No I'm not dude you're just not good at it anymore we all know I get the ladies on the team."

"BULLSHIT!" I slipped out of James' arm and walked over to Carlos, Logan, Kendall and Tommy.

"Hey what's that about?" Kendall asked gesturing over to them with his head.

"They're um…laying their junk out on the table to see whose is bigger basically." Logan and Kendall nodded with understanding, Tommy and Carlos looked at each other confused.

"What does that mean?" Carlos questioned and turned to Logan, who whispered it to him. "OHHHHHH. Ew, weirdos."

"What does it mean!?" Tommy asked looking up at Carlos. "UMMMM nothing."

"LIAR!"

"I'll tell you when you hit puberty." I told Tommy after ruffling his hair.

"Ugh Hailey you are so embarrassing."

"Why yes, yes I am." We got to the pizzeria and took up about half of the restaurant. Oh by the way, hockey players? They fucking eat like monsters! Carlos nearly ate an entire pie by himself I couldn't believe it! After everyone was done eating the group split up. We were walking home and one by one we each split up until it was just Kendall Tommy and I.

"Great game Kendall, I'll see you tomorrow." I smiled and gave him a hug.

"Hey thanks for coming out to watch us it means a lot." He smiled and gave Tommy a high five. "Glad you enjoyed the game little man, we'll see you this weekend to practice."

"EPIC! Bye Kendall!" Tommy waved and the two of us ran inside the house.


	5. First Aid

(**Hi guys, so im one of those morons that didn't evacuate for hurricane Sandy in NY, staying with a relative, I was just able to get out of the zone, but updates will be hard. So far I have two for Logan, two for Carlos, I'm leaning towards Logan..)**

Saturday morning comes way too early after a fun Friday night. Last night after their hockey practice the guys and I went in search of Halloween costumes, and then after that we hung out at Kendall's house until Logan's mom made him come home, then we all split. When I woke up this morning Tommy was already up and dressed to play hockey.

"Tommy Kendall has work until two you're not going to play for a couple of hours…" I told him as I sat down to eat breakfast. He shrugged not looking away from his comic book.

"That's okay, I'm already prepared for when we start."

Smart kid, gets ready early so he doesn't stress out when it's time to go, I should consider that. My dad looked between the two of us and put down his cup of coffee.

"You know, I've noticed you spend a lot of time with these boys Hailey. Even Tommy's going to hang out with them and I haven't met them yet!"

"Because dad, they're only my friends I'm not dating them or anything so it isn't mandatory to meet them…."

"Well, I want to meet them." He glanced at my mom. "Don't you?"

"Oh I've met them already, Kendall's mom is such a sweetie." My mom didn't look up from her magazine as she spoke, wow, so that's where Tommy gets it from.

"OH come on why is dad always the one that's left out of the loop!?" My dad said with an exaggerated sigh. "So abused."

"Wow poor dad." I laughed. Him and my mom kept talking to each other and she said she needed him to go buy the groceries, which meant he would see Kendall, which meant the guys were probably there too, which meant I need to go so my dad doesn't say anything stupid. After a change of clothes I got into my mom's car with my dad, he doesn't need to use the cruiser 24/7 after all, people get it he's a cop, sheesh. When we got to the supermarket Logan James and Carlos were sitting on the curb while Kendall was leaning on a broom and talking to them. Logan looked up first and grinned.

"Hey Hails!" He stood up quickly and so did the rest of the guys, they went to hug me but stopped when they saw my dad come up behind me and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Heeeeey guys." I smiled nervously. "UMMMM this is my dad, Nathan….er…Thorn. Officer Thorn? I don't know how to do these introductions." I looked up at my dad who rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair. Excuse me sir I spent twenty damn minutes trying to flatten this hair down and he just ruined it. GRRRR.

"Officer Thorn?" Carlos tilted his head to the side and my dad nodded.

"Yup that's me, you must be Carlos, I work with your dad down at the station." The two of them shook hands. "So the rest of you are….?"

"Okay dad, that's Logan Mitchell, James Diamond, and Kendall Knight, he lives next door."

"Ah okay, nice to finally meet you boys, she talks about you guys all the time." The four of them grinned and stared at me as they shook hands with my dad. Gee thanks daddy now they think I'm in love with them. Sigh.

"Does she now? What sort of things does she say?" Kendall grinned eagerly.

"Oh well where to start…" My dad rubbed his hands together and glanced at Carlos. "She said you're adorable like a little kid, very funny and a prankster. Logan she said you are a genius and she's glad to have class with you because she's an idiot—"

"I DID NOT CALL MYSELF AN IDIOT!"

"You were going to shhhhh." He covered my mouth jokingly and I shook my head, the guys were laughing though I guess my dad isn't that embarrassing. "James she said you are incredibly conceited about your good looks but she THINKS you might be nice. THINKS so, and Kendall she said you were a sweet guy who's fun to be around. Satisfied?" Three out of the four nodded, James looked a little offended. "Well I'll see you kids later, have to get the groceries before the wife flips out." He patted Logan on the shoulder and moved past him to go inside.

"I'll see you guys later okay? I'll drop off Tommy at the park."

"Sure thing we'll be there at three!" Kendall nodded. My dad and I purchased our groceries. Well not _our_ groceries. We bought the crap that my mom wanted and THEN we proceeded to buy our foods. Which consists of chocolate covered pretzels, cheese its, lots of pickles, and an absolute fuck ton of chocolate chip ice cream. Oh yeah my dad and I party hard with the junk food, it's quite disgusting. As we walked out of the supermarket the guys saw us and helped out with the groceries. James closed up the trunk with me and held my shoulder as I turned to leave.

"You don't think I'm nice?"

"Well….you are nice but…well James you're always hitting on me or some girl or talking about _you_. You're just very…centered about you."

"I'm not Hailey, I'm not a conceited jerk you think I am."

"Well prove me wrong then! I don't have a problem with it James, that's what makes you well…you!"

"Well….I'm not! I will prove it and you will see I am just as great and wonderful IF NOT MORE SO than the other three!"

"Alright go ahead!" I ruffled his hair and climbed into the car. My dad glanced at me as he drove away.

"That was interesting. That kid like you or something?"

"I don't know, but his hair is a dealbreaker."

"…..REALLY Hailey?"

"No I'm just kidding dad I'm not that mean."

"I should hope not." He muttered. We joked around during the rest of the car ride. When we got home we put away the groceries together and mom made us a lunch of chicken pot pie. This is the only reason I don't like when the fall season occurs, the pie. I hate pot pie. It's disgusting and my mom likes to make it every god damn day when she can. Instead of that I ate a hot dog and called it a day. When it was 2:30 Tommy was banging on my bedroom door.

"HAILEY TAKE ME TO THE PARK NOW! HAILEY!"

"FINE FINE!" I got up out of bed, throwing my magazine on the floor and opened the door. He stood there with his jeans, sneakers and sweatshirt on and he looked so adorable and excited. I ruffled his hair and went down to the kitchen to grab him a snack to take in case he got hungry. Then again it's unfair if I bring him a snack but no one else, so I packed my backpack with Gatorade and some snacks. The two of us walked to the park in silence, he isn't big on talking to me anymore unless we're insulting each other. I kind of regret wishing he didn't talk to me when he was little. He was so cute and say he loves me and all that jazz, now he's calling me stupid or saying I smell. I really think we should have a poison that keeps cute kids younger, but that's just me! When we got to the park the boys were on a field joking around. Carlos dived into a pile of leaves and then launched out of them. James did a back flip into the leaves and so did Logan, Kendall just calmly sat down then threw himself back laughing. When Tommy noticed them he ran right over.

"HI GUYS I'M HERE!" He stopped in front of them grinning, I walked over holding his bag and stood there.

"Hey Tommy! So first lesson is going to be on grass today. Sound good?" Kendall asked and Tommy eagerly nodded. "Great! So here is an extra stick." Kendall held out a hockey stick and Tommy eagerly grabbed it.

"Let's not forget your uniform." James grabbed a jersey that was hanging on his shoulder and threw it to Tommy who pulled it over his sweatshirt.

"Cool thanks!"

"I'll pick you up later okay Tommy?"

"Hey why don't you stay?" James offered with a shrug." Watch your brother become awesome like us."

"Yeah come on Hailey you have to watch!" Tommy looked up at me. Wow he wants me to stay.

"Yeah Hails stay!" Carlos grinned , "Don't you love us?" He dropped down onto his knees beside Tommy and they both made a pouty face, well this is a whole new side to Tommy I've never seen before.

"Alright alright I'll stay! I have snacks by the way, Gatorade and stuff." Carlos quickly stood up and walked over to get a snack but Logan and James pulled him away.

"Not yet Carlos!" I chuckled and sat down in the grass with the backpack of snacks and laid down watching them drag the food fiend away and teach my little brother how to play. They spent hours playing non-stop. Even when it was starting to get dark Tommy insisted that they would keep playing. He isn't doing too bad either, the only thing is he can never get past James, he's too quick for him. He almost did it once though, he came close but no cigar. On the last try because Carlos was whining he was starving, James "stumbled" and Tommy got past him. I know James definitely let him get past, but Tommy doesn't.

"I DID IT I DID IT!" Tommy jumped up waving the hockey stick which hit Logan in the head and knocked him to the ground. "Woops, sorry Logan!"

"It's cool little dude." Logan said but it wasn't, it definitely looks like that hurt more than he's leading on to be. Kendall pulled Logan to his feet and checked to make sure his head was all right. When it was Tommy handed the stick to Kendall and ran over to me.

"HAILEY I DID IT!"

My heart, it hurts, he hasn't been this nice and cute to me in ages.

"I know I saw! That's great good job Tommy!" I smiled and sat up to hug him. Carlos grabbed the backpack full of snacks and went ahead distributing them out. Sheesh, way to ask about it first! I don't mind though, they all sat down and chugged the beverages before scarfing down the cereal bars, chips, and even the grapes I had packed up. Once they ate Tommy insisted on more round. The guys were exhausted except Carlos, who eagerly got up to play again. I honestly did not want them playing this late because it's dark and they can't see where they're going. But hopefully no one will—

Never mind.

All I saw was a body drop in the darkness and a high-pitched cry, then Carlos saying "oh crap."

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" I stood up quickly and started marching over. Carlos picked up Tommy and ran over carrying him. Tommy sniffled and this kid was STILL holding on to the hockey stick. James pulled the hockey stick away from him as Carlos still held him.

"Let me see, anyone have a flash light on their phone?" Logan asked as Carlos knelt down, sitting my sniffling little brother on the grass.

"I do!" Kendall took out his phone and shined the super bright light over my brother who was pouting and we could see his jeans ripped at the knee and bits of rock on it. He leaned over and panicked seeing the blood. Pfft, pussy, and he makes fun of me? Well he is ten so I guess that isn't fair… No fuck it, he's a boy, it's fair.

"Okay buddy you'll be just fine okay? I'll fix this up." Logan smiled softly and reached into his own backpack pulling out a first aid kit. I glanced at James who shrugged.

"He wants to be a doctor, he always carries something helpful."

"Oh….good..." I nodded and moved over to hug Tommy and stroke his hair while Logan rinsed off his cut with water. Tommy winced and squeezed Carlos' arm who looked at me with wide eyes. "Oh I know, kid is strong."

"Like a super child!" He nodded in agreement, I snorted, always so funny. Logan then took tweezers, pulling out the bits of rocks. He cleaned and bandaged the cut, then actually gave my brother a lollipop who grinned and hugged him.

"Thanks Logan!"

"Oh any time Tommy." Logan smiled and ruffled his hair. James offered Tommy a piggy back ride back to the house so he wouldn't walk, which Tommy had no trouble accepting. We threw out the garbage then started walking back, so I walked a bit ahead to catch up to Logan.

"Hey, thanks for taking care of my little booger Logan."

"Oh please, it was my job as a doctor to care for him." He smiled and I chuckled.

"Yeah well, thanks!"

"Anytime Hails." Logan did this…adorable crooked grin and I couldn't help but smile a bit more as we joked around on our way home.


	6. Pumpkin Scone

(**Once again thanks so much for the reviews, cherryblossom1208, SprinklzAndPixieDust, crazyaboutbooks1309, and for your lovely opinions on who Hailey should end up with, a, and Logan's Love)**

Well after that lovely little hockey expedition Tommy begged to do it again next week. I think this might be a new tradition with him and the guys, not that I'll complain it's actually a cute thing. He talks to me now it's weird. Well, he doesn't really talk to me so much as ask about the guys and what he'll be learning the next time he plays. It's a start though right? This morning he actually said good morning to me, without any rude nicknames! I almost shit myself I couldn't believe it. After that he said to tell the boys he said hi, I'm not doing that, there's no need to do that every day, gosh. I got driven to school and met up with Carlos before class. We sat next to each other and we had a free day to study and review for tomorrow's test.

"Hails, what's this?"

"You have to find the tangent here….look see?" I redrew the circle and the line a bit bigger, putting the numbers into place. I wrote down the formula and solved the problem, showing him what to do on the calculator. He slowly nodded but I could tell he had no idea. So for the rest of the period I was helping Carlos with the math work and preparing him for the test tomorrow. In response he would share his snack of bite-size Oreos with me. Carlos can be such a sweetheart it's refreshing. When he felt like his brain was going to combust he closed both of our books and sat up in his chair scarfing down more Oreos.

"So did you get your costume yet?"

"Hell yeah I'm so going as a witch, what did you pick?" I took some Oreos and tossed them into the air before catching them in my mouth.

"I'm going as my own home-made superhero. I'm going to fill up a pillow case with snacks it's going to be AWESOME!"

"I can't wait! We'll meet up at Kendall's house?" Carlos nodded eagerly, squeezing his juice box to get the last bit of juice.

"Yeah, James is going as a 'hot lumberjack' whatever, Logan is going to be a vampire and Kendall's going to be Spiderman."

"We are such a messed up group." I laughed as the bell rang, picking up my books.

"Dude, for real." Carlos grinned and grabbed his stuff too. "I'll meet you at English."

"Yeah no problem." The two of us split to our lockers, sadly my locker isn't near any of theirs but oh well! Not like it's a big deal I mean I have class with at least one of them throughout the day so it's all good. I left my books and grabbed what I needed for English before quickly running over. When I got there James was seated, saving seats for me and Carlos.

"Well good morning Hails!" He smiled wide and I nodded sitting in the seat on his right.

"Hey James, what's up?" I smiled back taking out my books. James shrugged and flipped his hair.

"Oh nothing much just saving a seat for my two friends because I'm so nice."

"I get it James you're nice…"

"Nuh uh uh, I'm not just nice, I'm super nice." James reached into his bag and pulled out a pumpkin scone, waving it in my face. "See that? That's nice James." I reached for the scone but he pulled it back, smirking. "Admit that I'm nice, and the scone is yours…"

"James that isn't a very nice thing to do."

"I don't care, admit it!"

"Fine! James you're very nice….please give me the scone."

"Oh, and that I'm handsome and you'll go out on a date with me." He grinned again. I rolled my eyes.

"James, you're very handsome but I won't go on a date with you." He gasped as I reached over and grabbed the scone from him, taking a big bite. "Thanks, I love these things."

"Come on! A date with me is great, we'll see Kiss and Tell, go out for hot chocolate after, a walk through the park!"

Wow that actually does sound like a cute date.

"James as nice as that date is, I like our friendship….I don't see you in that…romantic kissy kissy way."

"Fair enough." He pouted and turned to Carlos who just barely made it before the bell rang." Dude what kept you so late?"

"Forgot my snack." Carlos grinned, waving his candy bar.

"Carlos you just ate in math." I gawked as he continued to eat. He looked me up and down then shrugged.

"So did you!"

"Oh touché…" I shook my head and he threw his head back and laughed. It was like his eyes were twinkling. Every time Carlos smiles or laughs it's the cutest thing because he looks like such an innocent sweetheart. The rest of class went well, aside from James trying to hit on the girl across the room and Carlos getting so bored he fell asleep and snored throughout the rest of class. After that they dropped me off to my science class where I got to sit next to Logan. Logan is my permanent partner for the sheer fact that I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm completely serious Logan saw how crappy I am at science so he just stays my partner. This works out for me.

"Hey partner." Logan grinned as I sat down on the stool next to him and tossed my bag on the counter.

"Hey partner! Want some of my scone?" I unwrapped the napkin and plastic wrap from the scone, I didn't eat much, I was still full from those Oreos so I had a bit over half of it left.

"Oh definitely, thanks."

"No problem." I chuckled as he eagerly pulled off a huge chunk and scarfed it down. He sighed happily chewing the scone as he wrote down the notes on the board. The two of us sat quietly, ripping bits and pieces off as we took down notes and the aim for the class that day. I was getting curious to exactly how much scone was left, because I know I had ripped off quite a bit and I was sharing it with someone. Still, lazy me couldn't be bothered to look over. However my question of exactly how much was left was answered when I reached and found nothing, then I felt Logan's finger tips grasp mine. I looked up from my notebook to see Logan's confused face looking away from his notes and to the spot where there was once a scone. He glanced at our hands and he blushed slightly.

"Oh uh I …sorry Hails." He chuckled nervously and pulled away.

"It's no problem Logan." I smiled back and the two of us went back to copying our notes. I don't know about him but that…hand touch thing? It was weird it felt like I got shivers or goose bumps, which should be the same thing…okay well it felt like I got those running up my arm. Totally weird but it could just be the October chill! After we took notes we spent the last fifteen minutes completing a simple lab experiment, which Logan helped me in step by step. Tomorrow we're supposed to dissect a frog….I don't want to dissect Kermit that's fucking disgusting! Or terrible, Kermit deserves to have a fighting chance too damn it! The two of us packed up our stuff at the end of class and walked side by side to his locker before going to mine. I dropped off my books, grabbed my lunch and we walked together joking around.

"So a vampire huh? Nice choice Logula." I laughed. Logula? Really? That's fucking corny I deserve a hammer to the head for that comment.

"Logula? Nice." He laughed and shook his head, well at least he found it funny. "Yeah I figured vampire would be cool! Something different. Obviously we didn't stick with a theme this year, too much work."

"That's fine, we'll be the group of misfits." I smiled and he grinned pushing the cafeteria door open for me. I walked in and smiled at him, Logan grinned and holy crap I think my heart fluttered. Weird, meh, I'm just starving that's got to be it. The two of us sat down at the usual table, James and Carlos were arguing over a pudding cup. Kendall was watching amused, eating a pudding cup.

"They think one of them stole the other's pudding cup. "He smirked, sticking his spoon into the rich chocolate , "I just took Carlos' when he wasn't looking."

"Oh what a jerk." I laughed and Kendall simply wiggled his eyebrows in response. I shook my head and watched as James and Carlos began to play rock paper scissors for the pudding cup, they mimicked each other's movements it was crazy. After five minutes of this phenomenon I turned to Kendall and Logan who explained to me the perfect houses to hit and why.

"Also there is a haunted house I definitely need to check out." Kendall nodded seriously.

"I don't know….last time we went to a haunted house Carlos went through a wall when things got too scary." Logan said, unsure of whether we should go.

"I'm down, sounds fun. I never went to any good haunted houses in New York, I always went on the little 'walks in the park' sorta thing."

"Oh we have those too." Logan nodded. "We have hay rides, the haunted pumpkin patch, bobbing for apples, costume contests, that's where the haunted house is actually."

"Oh then I'd really love to do that! I never did any of that before."

"Then we'll do that." Logan smiled, I grinned and happily bit into my sandwich.

"Alright then we really need to get an early start. Halloween is on a Saturday I say then at one o'clock we group at my house and meet up to trick or treat, fill our bags then drop them off at my house and guys…..I say we pull an all-nighter."

All of our eyes lit up at what Kendall was speaking of, even Carlos and James stopped arguing over the pudding cup.

"An all-nighter Halloween event? HELL YES!" James jumped up.

"BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!" Carlos grinned and jumped up too, high-fiving James and cheering. Logan agreed and the boys looked at me.

"Ummm I don't know I'll have to ask my parents…"

"Oh I bet they'll say yes!" Kendall grinned.

**BREAKING MY PAGE LIKE IT'S BREAKING MY HEART BUT ITS' BREAKING THE PAGE OHH WOAAHHAHAHAHAH**

"Absolutely not." My dad walked away from me and went to the freezer pulling out a tub of ice cream. It was late in the day and he was still in his uniform, too lazy to change out of it. He grabbed a spoon and offered me one before digging into the carton himself. "You are not sleeping over in a house full of testosterone filled horny little teenage boys."

"But _dad_," I whined, "their mom, who you and mom are now well acquainted with will be there. They are RIGHT next door, and Kendall's little sister will be there so nothing can happen!"

"Hailey, I was a teenage boy, I know how they can make things happen in what seems like an impossible situation. One time I was at this house party and me and this girl—"

"Dad I really don't want to hear that disgusting story." I cringed in disgust and shoveled another scoop of ice cream into my mouth while he seemed to tilt his head to the side and day dream, much like J.D. from Scrubs.

"Anyways…no way Hailey my baby girl is not staying there."

"Dad I will go to mom and ask and you know she will fold after three compliments and me making her a fruit salad." I narrowed my eyes at my dad who glared back down at me.

"Sweetie you're blackmailing me aren't you? I am an officer of the law and I—"

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

"Okay okay fine don't get mom in on this she'll get pissed at me for not letting you in the first place and making her get involved. You will call me when you get there to stay over, before you sleep and when you wake up understand? "

"Yes daddy thank you I love you!" I wrapped my arms around his waist and he sighed hugging me back.

"My daughter is a criminal."

"No she's not, she's just female.


	7. Berry Shampoo

These boys don't joke around when it comes to their candy, this I learned. Now I'm a fan of free candy and all as much as the next kid, but they are so… strategic with their craft that within three hours our bags were filled to the brim with candy. So then we dropped our bag off at Kendall's house, grabbed other bags and brought them to the Halloween celebration, just in case we were able to get more candy, which we totally did! First off we all tried the bobbing for apples. None of us could do it, it felt so weird, like drowning almost! Well, I shouldn't say none of us, Carlos actually managed to pull out two apples which is pretty sick if you ask me. They let him keep the apples so he was eating them while we went on the hay ride. The hay ride was alright, it wasn't scary actually it seemed like a bunch of kids forced to volunteer so they weren't that into it. We all entered the costume contest, and it was no one's surprise when James was voted the best for the male category. Obviously it's because he's good-looking, there's no denying that. Then again all four of these boys are good-looking, I guess it's just that James flaunts it more.

Well, after that we went into the haunted house and wow that was quite terrifying.

"I don't like it here!" I whispered clinging on to Logan and Kendall.

"Don't worry Hails, none of this is real monsters and ghosts do not exist." Logan said reassuringly.

"Oh you can't say you're not scared." James said from behind us, him and Carlos sticking close to each other.

"I'm not because all of this is fake." He smiled smugly and continued to walk. I had a vice grip on his and Kendall's arms, hell no I was not letting a monster take me, that would not happen. One of the doors flew open and some guy dressed as a bloody axe murdering clown jumped out in front of us. Every single one of us screamed and Logan was the first one running out the house, dragging me as I dragged Kendall. We ran away and didn't stop running until we saw a group of moms dressed as fairies giving candy to children. That's where we collapsed on the ground in fear.

"Wow, not scared huh Logan?" Kendall teased.

"…..Nope I was just running with you guys…." Logan said. James and Carlos looked at each other before tackling Logan. Kendall looked at me with a mischievous grin and shrugged before tackling the three males. They were rolling around and play-fighting. I got up and grabbed a few pieces of candy from the fairy moms who shook their heads at the guys.

"Guys come on let's go back! I really want to eat food…and candy, and food." As soon as I mentioned food the second time they all stood up straightening themselves out. That was an interesting sight, Spiderman, lumberjack, a vampire, and superhero fighting each other.

"Food! LET US GO!" Carlos stood up and posed heroically before leading the way to Kendall's house. On the way there I had to stop and get a giant cone of French fries. I love potatoes, so french-fries, PLUS they slathered it in cheese? I'm a happy camper. Carlos however saw the fries and attacked them, actually all the boys did, so I didn't get much but I'll just have to eat all of Kendall's food. When we got there his mom and Katie were there with Tommy, who insisted on staying over too. My dad loved that idea because he could spend alone time with my mom AND have my brother spy on us.

"HEY GUYS!" Tommy waved and jumped off of the couch running over, he was wearing a Superman costume and damn it he looked adorable.

"Hey Tommy, get any good candy?" James asked and Tommy nodded.

"Duh, I'm Superman everyone feeds me. The cuter the person as well as the better the costume, the more candy it only makes sense."

Wow this kid is a candy bandit too.

"It also depends what houses you go to, some people can be so candy stingy…" Carlos said with a shake of his head.

"That's also very true!" Tommy nodded in agreement. I walked over and ruffled his hair, he growled and pushed my hand away. "Come on Hailey don't embarrass me!" The guys chuckled at him being so resistant, I just looked down at him and shook my head.

"Go put on your pajamas then lay out your sleeping bag."

"Fine…" He grumbled and grabbed his backpack and walked to the bathroom to get changed. Katie was already in her pajamas, she grabbed a spot on the armchair and dug her hand into Kendall's candy bag.

"Katie!"

"What? I need some ring pops and you always get them….aha!" Katie pulled out a few ring pops and stuck one on her finger. "Thanks!"

"Not going to stay with us?"

"No I'm going to see if I can become a dentist in time for the Halloween cavity scourge." Katie grinned and waved, running away to her bedroom. The guys all looked to each other and shrugged pulling off their clothes.

"Woah woah woah what are you doing!?" I shielded my eyes and turned around.

"Oh….yeah sorry we're used to it being just us at these things so we just change in front of each other." James shrugged. "You are more than welcome to take a peak though."

"I'm good James…" I grabbed my bag and ran to the bathroom right as Tommy left. After changing to my long sleeve green thermal and black sweatpants I left the bathroom to see Tommy sitting between James and Carlos, organizing his candy into different sections.

"Why does he do that…..?" They asked in amazement.

"He likes to save his candy, make it last for months." I shrugged and plopped down beside Logan. I grabbed my bag of candy and began to eat my first piece when Kendall's mom walked in.

"OH no no! No one eats candy yet until we have dinner first. Let's go guys into the kitchen." She ushered us all to the kitchen where we ate a dinner of worms and mud pies, which was spaghetti and meatballs, except they were meant to be scary. We ate up quick as possible, the boys eating seconds, Carlos having thirds, he's a destroyer of food I don't understand how he's able to do it. I helped Mrs. Knight with the dishes and went back to the living room where all of our sleeping bags were laid out. My sleeping bag just so happens to be between Logan and James, sweet.

Anyways, we gathered around the TV and sat watching scary movies and eating candy. I did not want Tommy to be watching these scary movies with us because I don't want him to get scared but the boys all insisted it would be okay. It was only when we fell asleep that it as an issue.

"Hailey…." Tommy poked my eyes until I woke up, when I looked at him he was wrapped in hi sleeping bag like a caterpillar. "I'm scared, monsters will eat me."

"I thought Tommy Thorn wasn't afraid of anything?" I yawned and he narrowed his eyes, smacking my head. "Ow!"

"Let me sleep with you."

"Fine yeah go ahead." I turned away and he groaned. "What?!"

"I can't be on the outside the monster can snatch me move over!" He started to tug my sleeping bag and I sighed moving closer to Logan so he could squeeze in between James and I. Once he was comfortably settled I felt crushed between the two of them. When I woke up Tommy was sprawled out above his sleeping bag with his legs kicking me and James while Logan had an arm around me. Wow, so….do people usually grab others in their sleep or is that just a guy thing? I'm um, not really complaining. Luckily I woke up before anyone, so it wasn't like they could make fun of us, I snuck out of his grasp and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

**Logan's POV**

I think I might be an evil genius. When Tommy walked to Hailey scared I was awake and I knew she had no room to move over but I didn't move, I didn't let her know I was awake. I kind of liked having her that close to me I mean… she smells better than the rest of these guys. I could smell her berry scented shampoo, and it's a big step up from James' stupid hair products or Carlos occasionally smelling of corn dogs. Hailey's scent is a nice change. I don't know I guess her being here at all is a nice change. A girl in the group it's….different but it's great. It's a new view on everything, and it's nice to have someone to talk to besides Kendall that isn't completely crazy.

Anyways, in the morning I realized my arm was around her and I didn't mind. I didn't do it on purpose though! I just woke up that way, but she got up and left so my happy wake up didn't last forever. When she left the bathroom I walked in after her saying good morning with a smile and she grinned and said good morning back. Right when I got into the bathroom I could smell that tempting shampoo, it's like candy I swear. Anyways when I left the bathroom I could see Tommy and Carlos trying to stand on their heads and hands, while Kendall was in the kitchen with his mom getting breakfast ready, and Hailey and James were sitting on the sofa talking.

I'm kind of jealous of James. He gets to be making all these free passes at her, flirting with her, complimenting her while all I can do is help her with her science and talk to her. Sure I guess that's not such a bad thing but I wish I had the confidence of James to be able to do something like that. It's not fair, what if she starts to like all the attention he gives her and all the flirting?! It would be typical of James to get the girl, he always seems to…

"Logan!" I looked up and Hailey stood there laughing. "Dude you were so spaced out, come on it's time for breakfast." She tugged on my sweater sleeve and pulled me from the couch, dragging me to the kitchen. We all sat around in the kitchen in different places, some on the counter top, some at the table, not a lot of space at her kitchen table. After that we all packed up our stuff to go home, I hung back a bit and walked with Hailey since Tommy wanted to talk to James and Carlos.

"So did you enjoy your first Minnesota Halloween?" Hailey looked at me and nodded.

"I definitely did it was awesome! Best Halloween I've had in a long time." Sadly it isn't a long walk since her and Kendall are next door to each other.

"Well I'm glad, wait till Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, the holidays just get even better around here."

"Well I can't wait Logan! This was great, I'll see you guys tomorrow or Monday." She leaned over and gave me a tight hug before hugging James and Carlos too.

"See ya Logan!" Tommy hugged my legs then pushed past Hailey. "MOVE IT HAILEY!" She slammed the door behind her and I laughed hearing her yell at him in response.

"So that was pretty awesome." Carlos nodded happily carrying his candy bag. "We totally kicked ass last night."

"Yeah and Hailey was totally a hot witch." James said, I glared at him and shook my head.

"Hasn't she turned you down like a million and one times?"

"Yeah….but that doesn't mean I can't look! I can look, just not touch. Well I COULD to—"

"Alright alright James I get it." Him and Carlos laughed but I shook my head. Of course he thinks it's funny, whatever, Hailey's our good friend, James isn't getting anywhere with her. I hope.


	8. Personal Hero

After science Logan and I grabbed our bags and did our usual routine of going to our lockers together and getting our lunches. First stop, Logan's, where he opened the locker while talking to me.

"So yeah our game is this Saturday, bring Tommy it'll be great." He grinned glancing at me and before I could answer his locker door slammed, nearly catching his hand. Logan jumped back and stood beside me, the two of us looked up at three guys, who I think were the same three that were bothering Logan at the park one day. Aw shit this is gonna suck.

"Logan Mitchell, we meet again." He grinned.

"Zack." Logan nodded with a nervous smile.

"Ohhh and who is this? Logie's got a girlfriend?" Zack smiled and leaned against the lockers in front of me. "Because if he does he won't have her for long, she's too pretty for you."

"Hey—"

"What do you want?" Logan sighed and grabbed a hold of my elbow and tugged it until I stepped back, he stood forward a bit but it looked like we were going to have to make a run for it.

"We want our money, that should have been ours!"

"It wasn't your money to begin with I won it fair and square. Just leave me alone right?"

"Well you know what?" Zack took a step forward and his other two friends got closer, flanking our sides. "Your friends aren't here to protect you this time." Zack moved to push Logan, but Logan already shoved him away hard. His two friends then threw Logan to the floor.

"Logan! Hey…ass-butt!" I pushed Zack away and he stared at me and laughed.

"Girl, you are weak, and what kind of insult is that huh? Ass-butt? Really?" Shit I knew that was stupid. I bit my lip and bent down to help Logan up, we looked at each other like we were devising a plan to run, but then we heard two taps and glanced behind Zack to see Carlos with his helmet, Kendall, and James standing with their arms crossed.

"Didn't we tell you to leave Logan alone? That money wasn't yours Zack, so back off or you'll have to deal with all of us." Kendall strode forward, wow, he totally is the leader of the group he's like the mediator…protector…nice guy. Zack shook his head and shoved his hands into his front pockets.

"Dude if you guys want a fight I'll take you any time anywhere." Carlos took this as a cue to attack and he charged forward but James held him back.

"We don't _need_ to fight Zack, but if we have to we will. So just lay off before things get worse for yourself." Kendall poked him in his chest as he spoke. Zack glared and glanced at his two friends before walking away, staring everyone down as they left. I turned to Logan who was running a hand through his hair. I put my hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it away and stood with the guys.

"You okay Logan?" James asked and Logan exhaled deeply.

"Yeah I'm fine I'm not a girl!" He stormed off walking away from them the guys looked at me but I shrugged, I don't know what the hell just happened! James glanced at me before running off to catch up with Logan.

"We'll see you later beautiful?"

"Sure James, stop calling me that!" He winked and ran off with Kendall and Carlos after Logan. This is awkward…so I just went to my locker and grabbed my lunch, I guess I'll spend my lunch period enjoying my sandwich and coke alone with my violin.

**Logan's POV**

I sat down at the lunch table and unwrapped my sandwich. As soon as I took my first bite I noticed all of the guys staring at me. "What?!" Kendall opened his mouth to speak, glancing at James and Carlos who nodded eagerly. "Well!?"

"Well we noticed you were just a bit….let's see here.." Kendall glanced at Carlos and James.

"Super angry and mean when Hailey touched you." Carlos nodded, grabbing a corndog and taking a huge bite out of it.

"I wasn't super angry or mean. I just didn't feel like being touched, I'm not a girl." I bit into my sandwich again and took a long swig of chocolate milk. James chuckled and leaned forward in his seat, grabbing an apple off of Carlos' tray and taking a big bite.

"I see what's going on here…" James spoke as he chewed. "You don't want to look weak in front of Hailey."

"No!" I yelled quickly. That is not it at all! Okay it might be but he doesn't need to know that, James shouldn't be able to figure these things out so quickly it's not fair.

"Then what is it?" Kendall asked.

"It's nothing alright?"

"Logan didn't want to look weak in front of Hailey because he was shoved to the ground in front of her." James sang taking another bite of his apple. I growled and grabbed my own apple throwing it at his head. James gasped and quickly pulled out his comb to fix his hair. "Well you don't have to hit me with food Logan!"

"Just stop talking about it alright James?! It's done with I look like a total chick to Hailey because I get bullied and you guys show up to take care of the problem."

"Hey we're just helping out our brother, you'd do that for any of us!" Carlos smiled and nodded.

"Yeah I mean we don't think you're weak, and I doubt Hailey thinks you're weak either, we just take care of each other Logan." Kendall nodded. Kendall, always the voice of reason, I guess he has a point.

"Well I always seem like the weak one, this is the second time now—"

"Actually third time, you screamed like a bitch at the haunted house on Halloween." James corrected, I quickly threw the rest of my sandwich at him but he quickly dodged it." Chill!"

"Well then…why don't we paint you to look like a hero?" Kendall grinned.

"Me? Look like a hero? How?"

"OH OH OH OH OH we get her kidnapped by an evil villain and Logan saves the day where she discovers his secret identity?" Carlos jumped up staring at all of us. We all stared at him quietly before he sighed and sat down.

"No quite Carlos…" Kendall chuckled. "Here's the plan…"

**Hailey's POV**

The rest of the day was pretty okay. I guess Logan got whatever it was out of his system at lunch because he was back to normal in our other class. I asked if he was okay and he said he was, just a little frustrated, which is completely understandable. Hell if I had guys like that bothering me about money I'd be on a rampage killing people myself. Oh, James of course is special as usual, in chorus today we had to sing short solo snippets, and he embarrassed me by grasping my hand and singing to me. It could not have been any more awkward…. Well it could have been, but thankfully it wasn't. After that I ran to my strings rehearsal and after an hour, and an extra half hour of waiting to be picked up I found out dad can't pick me up, so now I must walk home. Quite a long walk too, boring, and cold as hell. Sheesh, Minnesota gets cold awfully fast.

I made it to about three quarters of the way to my house, it was getting dark and I was getting freaked out. Well I'm not that much of a pansy, I've walked in the dark before but that's in the city, not Minnesota…. I'm still not comfortably familiar with the place; if I walk in the dark I'm usually with the guys! Well, I was just walking by the park when I heard rustling from the trees. That's fine, it's a windy day that's cool. But when I heard a tree branch snap I totally lost it. I felt my backpack get yanked and I stumbled backwards into some guy's arms. I turned around and it was someone wearing all black, much taller than me with a black bandana covering his mouth. I guess it's kind of like James, if James was an evil creep.

"Gimme the bag." My eyes widened and I screamed bloody murder shoving him away and running. He chased after me and I when I looked back I slammed into something. When I looked back someone was holding my arms and I was about to yell again but I realized who it was.

"LOGAN! Oh my god Logan we have to run that guy is out of his mind." I stepped behind him and started tugging on his arm to leave as the guy got closer. Logan shrugged my arm away and stepped forward.

"Hey you leave her alone!"

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it you ….scrawny dorky nerdy nerd guy!" Wow that's a hell of an insult from an attacker.

"What if I do this huh?" Logan smiled smugly and pushed the guy. He gasped and shoved Logan back, before long the two were rolling on the floor fighting each other until Logan kicked the guy off. "YEAH SO GET OUT OF HERE AND DON'T COME BACK!" The guy looked at us and ran off. Logan turned around, his smug grin wearing away as he stepped closer to me. "Hey are you okay Hails?"

"Yeah I'm fine….wow Logan you….beat that guy off that's…amazing!" Holy shit I had no idea Logan had it in him to do that! Wow that was…..wow that was kind of…attractive and awesome.

"Yeah well, I couldn't let you get hurt or anything now could I?" He smiled and gave me a hug. "Come on I'll walk you home."

"Thanks…say uh what are you doing in the park?"

"Oh, the guys and I were just hanging out playing a little football and they sent me to be the one that gets Gatorade."

"Shouldn't you tell them that you're walking me then….?"

"Yeah you're right." Logan nodded and quickly sent a text before dropping me off in front of my house where he gave me a hug and waited until I was inside. The next day at lunch the two of us ran to the cafeteria so I could tell them what happened.

"Guys it was the SCAARIEST thing I swear you have to listen to me." I pulled back the tab on my soda staring at all the guys who were just looking at me smiling.

"What is it Hails?" Kendall smiled.

"Did something totally awesome and wicked and crazy happen!?" Carlos asked excitedly and James elbowed him in the ribs making him jump up. Hmmm..okay whatever I don't know what's up with these guys, always something different.

"Well I had to walk home yesterday alone, in the dark, because my dad couldn't pick me up. So I get to the park and this guy that looked like…an evil James yanked me back by my backpack and he wanted me to give to him for some reason and I really don't know why but I ran and I bumped into Logan!" I grinned and glanced at Logan and wrapped my arms around his arm hugging him as I continued to explain the rest of the story, and I noticed a little blush creeping on his cheeks. "Well I bumped into Logan and he just stepped in front of me and told the guy to leave me alone, then they were fighting and the guy ran away and Logan walked me home. I couldn't believe it! It was the craziest thing it's like Logan was my personal hero last night." When I finished telling the story the guys were all grinning staring at Logan.

"Wow Logan good for you, didn't know you exactly had it in ya to do that!" James nodded.

"Yea Logan that's so cool." Carlos nodded," you should be a superhero now!"

"Good job Logan protecting our little Hails." Kendall grinned and patted Logan's back, shooting him a wink which Logan quickly sent back. Huh am I missing something? I feel like I'm missing something.

"Yeah well you know, all in a day's work." Logan grinned and ate his sandwich. Wow, Logan went from this…kid getting pushed around to this guy with perfect timing acting like a hero, holy crap!


	9. Super Eater

Saturdays are spectacular, especially if I sleep in too late on a day that Kendall has off from work, my mom or dad just takes Tommy to play hockey with them. I love going to watch but I'm a girl, I get ADD doing the same thing every Saturday, and honestly I like to have some girl time. Granted, girl time is me hanging out with a violin, it still works! Well this was one of those mornings where Kendall was off from work so Tommy left early to play with them. I just didn't expect Kendall to walk into my room while I was playing in my pajamas.

"Kendall! Dude you guys could knock you know." I'm not ashamed of my pajamas, every girl wears a thermal and cookie pajama pants to bed, right?

"I did knock, for five minutes! It's three you've been playing all day, it sounds beautiful but we want to go outside." Kendall leaned on the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest and glancing around the room. "Cool colors, your room is surprisingly messier than mine." He laughed glancing at a bra flung over my computer chair and the cluster of ten water bottles by my bed. What? I drink a lot of water and the effort to go downstairs is too much.

"Okay okay you had your fun judging my room." I put my violin down and ran to the door trying to push him out but he wouldn't budge.

"Wow you are weak…" He laughed and I growled and pinched his cheek. "OW! Ow okay okay well we're all downstairs waiting for you, so get dressed we're gonna go outside!"

"But it's November it's cold…."

"Don't be such a girl." He commented, closing the door behind him. Hey, I can be a girl if I want to, I'm a girl after all I can be as feminine and whiney as I please. I could scream and throw a baby at a wall and blame it on PMS, life is good as a girl. I pulled on a pair of boots, jeans, a white sweater and grabbed my scarf and hat before running downstairs. When I got downstairs Logan and Kendall were talking to my dad while James and Carlos played videogames with Tommy.

"Hailey I didn't know you had such promising young friends! Doctor, hockey player? That's great." He ruffled their hair and the two of them grinned at me as though they were now certified to be the coolest friends of mine, oh gosh.

"Yeah my friends are one of a kind." I said and flopped down on the couch besides Logan. "So what are we doing today?"

"Well we figured we would go through the shopping district a bit to see the holiday lights they start to put up. Oh and they're having a pie eating contest and Carlos wants to be in it." Logan nodded, "So we have to go and support him, and bring pepto bismal…."

"I'M SO GOING TO WIN!" Carlos laughed happily before him and James turned off the game system.

"Keep me posted okay? Don't come home too late, don't do anything stupid, you know the drill." My dad stood up and gave me a hug and kiss on top of my head. "You boys watch my little girl got it? Or I'll arrest the four of you and leave you to rot in a cell for days." My dad stared at them seriously and they stared back with wide, terrified eyes. "Oh I'm just kidding." He laughed and smiled, the boys nervously chuckled. "No seriously, keep her safe or I'll have you rotting in a cell." He ruffled James' perfect hair who squealed and quickly took out a comb to fix it. The four guys chuckled and nodded nervously before running out the door yelling goodbye to Tommy and my mom.

"Bye daddy!" I hugged him and grabbed my pea coat while running out the door.

"Your dad scares me!" James whispered harshly. "He ruined my hair…"

"He's a hair ruffler don't take it personally." I chuckled buttoning my coat. "Besides he likes you guys don't be scared."

"We thought Carlos' dad being a cop was bad, he would interrogate us for hours to see who took Carlos' juice box, but _two_ cop fathers?! It's overwhelming!" Logan shook his head and zipped up his jacket.

"At least he likes us though, it could be worse." Kendall shrugged pulling his beanie on.

"See? That's the spirit. So what's first?" I skipped between James and Logan.

"Well gorgeous first we go watch Carlos eat his body-weight in pie and then you and I ditch these three and see that new movie Lovey Dovey." James looked down at me smiling.

"Not a chance James." I laughed, "I can't abandon my boys." I jumped in between Kendall and Logan, reaching an arm to try to get Carlos in as well.

"One of these days Hailey Thorn you'll go out with me!"

"Like I said before, not a chance James I like us as friends." James rolled his eyes and mimicked me. We walked to the town plaza where there were long tables set up, one table had tons of pies and I wanted to desperately join in on that contest but I wouldn't even be able to finish one pie. Carlos eagerly ran forward got a number and pinned it to his jacket. He pulled on his helmet, tapped it twice and sat down eagerly.

"Good luck Carlos you got this!" Kendall patted his back and Carlos nodded, smiling bright.

"Maybe I should get a kiss for good luck?" Carlos smiled cheesily at me. I rolled my eyes and walked over to kiss his cheek, he grinned and looked at James who appeared as though he wanted to kill him.

"HOW COME CARLOS GOT A KISS ON THE CHEEK!?"

"He asked."

"Can I get one?" James leaned forward expectantly.

"No." He growled and wouldn't quiet down until Logan told him to shut up. We watched as Carlos began to down the pies at such a disgusting speed. It was like watching a massacre it was...honestly it was quite scary, I feel bad for the pie! When the time was up Carlos was leaning back in his chair holding his belly with a smug smile on his face.

"OUR PIE EATING CHAMPION FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW! CARLOS GARCIA!" The man held Carlos' arm above his head.

"Fifth year in a row!? How is that possible?!"

"Oh, Carlos' stomach has no end." Kendall laughed. We walked forward and James helped Carlos' fat ass get out of the chair.

"It hurts more and more every year but it's so worth it." Carlos sighed happily holding his trophy.

"Congrats man, now here clean your face." Kendall chuckled handing a napkin to Carlos who quickly wiped his mouth. Logan handed him the pepto bismal and Carlos downed it like routine. "Great, now we take the lady to see the lights."

"Shall we?" Logan and James said it at the same time and both held out their hands. The two glared at each other and I just moved away from them and linked arms with Carlos and Kendall.

"Yes we shall!" I grinned and the five of us walked along the streets staring at all of the pretty lights they were putting up. I love it, they get ready for Christmas early, and I do love Christmas. Apparently in a few weeks they're going to put up a giant Christmas tree in the town plaza, so I can't wait to see that getting put up and lit! We were walking and I saw a clothing store, there was a sweater dress in the front window and I stopped to stare.

"Oh no don't tell me we're going in here!" Carlos whined. I turned to them slowly and grinned, no words needed to be spoken as I walked into the store and began the process of shopping like a complete and total girl. They all seemed completely annoyed and as though they wanted to kill themselves. I grabbed a cute sweater dress and a long sleeve red sweater and went to pay. I know, only two items, but it took me an hour to find both items. "Great! You bought stuff now can we please go get something to eat?!"

"Carlos you just ate a ton of pies and you want to eat?!" I gawked at him, he looked at me like if I was the alien idiot and nodded slowly.

"Duh…I want something salty."

"We'll go to the diner Katie's staying at a friend's house so my mom is most likely on shift." Kendall nodded and dragged us all to the diner, where sure enough Mrs. Knight was there working.

"Hello boys and Hailey!" She grabbed Kendall's face and kissed him on the forehead. "Kendall you're freezing you need to button up—"

"Mooooooooooooom"

"Oh go sit down in a booth I'll be with you guys in a second." She ushered us to a booth and I glanced at Kendall, smirking while he sighed pulling his hat off.

"She babies me so much."

"It's only because she cares." I nodded and slid into the circular booth, I ended up in the middle between Logan and James.

"I know but it's embarrassing." Kendall shrugged and glanced up when his mom came around.

"Hey guys! Have a fun day?"

"Yeah it was great! Carlos won the pie eating contest again." Logan chuckled and gestured to the trophy Carlos slammed on the table proudly.

"Well congratulations then Carlos, I assume you want a bacon cheeseburger deluxe as a reward?"

"Definitely Mama Knight." He nodded excitedly. She nodded writing it down on a piece of paper." Now I know my little Kendall here wants a tuna salad sandwich, James you want the turkey burger, and Logan your usual chicken fingers and fries, what about you Hailey?"

"Uhhh…." I didn't even look at the menus we just got here, I guess it was the usual they always get and she knows their orders. "I'm not that hungry ummm…. Can I have a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream?"

"Absolutely, be back soon guys." She nodded and ruffled Kendall's hair before walking away.

"I'll share with you if you want." Logan smiled down at me.

"Sure if you want." I shrugged and smiled back, Logan nodded and we all chatted mindlessly about their next game. Talk of their next game turned into chatter of the holiday dance. Holiday dance? Never done that before, do you wear like….a snow outfit or…something? Okay that's just ignorant of me I should stop talking.

"I don't know, are you guys even going to go?" Logan sighed twirling a fork.

"Aw Logan doesn't want to go because he thinks he won't have a date." James leaned over and ruffled Logan's hair, who leaned over me and swatted James' head.

"UMM holiday dance?" I turned to Kendall who seemed to be the only normal one right now.

"Yeah it's like a giant Christmas party dance sorta thing the school has every year" Kendall nodded. "Mostly we go, pull a prank and leave we don't actually stay to party. Well, James does sometimes depending on the girl he flirts with last minute." Kendall rolled his eyes and took a bite out of his sandwich.

"You are _more_ than welcome to come with me to the dance Hails." James smiled and placed his hand over mine, I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand away.

"No thanks James, I don't really do dances."

"Oh come on, all pretty girls go to dances!"

"You can always come and pull a prank with us!" Carlos grinned before shoveling food into his mouth.

"nah I don't think I'll do that, you guys have fun though." I chuckled and sipped my hot chocolate. Logan was quiet throughout the dance conversation, I don't know why but I decided not to press it. He stabbed a French fry with his fork and held it up to me, so I smiled and bit it off the fork. "Thanks Logan!"

"Sure thing Hails." He nodded and we continued to eat and talk. After paying the bill and saying goodbye to Mama Knight the boys decided to call it a night. Well actually, I said I wanted to call it a night because it was cold and the guys decided to go back to Kendall's and watch TV, so we all walked back together. They stood in front of my house and each said goodbye to me with a hug. When they walked to Kendall's I turned around to open the door but heard footsteps coming back. When I looked over my shoulder I could see Logan coming back.

"Hey Logan, everything alright?"

"Yeah I uhhh wanted to ask you a question!" Logan scratched the back of his neck nervously and shifted his feet.

"Oh yeah sure, what's up?" Logan nervously wanting to ask me a question? Oh I need to know what's going on.

"Yeah well uh there's a uh test in science next week and I wanted to know if you...wanted some help studying for it?"

Oh…..just wanted to offer study help…

"Oh! Um, yeah sure uh that would be great actually."

"Cool so um I'll come over and help you study and…help you."

"Yes you will, thanks Logan!"

"Yeah you're welcome Hailey!" He smiled a bit, still looking nervous and weird but he waved and ran off to Kendall's house. Well, I thought I was a weirdo but that was special.


	10. Strawberry Shortcake

It was late the Friday Logan came by to help me study for the test. While I had violin rehearsal the boys had hockey practice, but I always finish sooner than they do. So I picked up Tommy from Kendall's house, made a snack for the two of us and then went upstairs to practice the violin as I waited, not sure how long it'll take him to get here after practice but oh well. I was busy doing a cover of Brick by Boring Brick, when I heard Logan's voice from the doorway.

"Wow, that sounds beautiful you play really well." I turned around and he smiled leaning on the door frame unzipping his large jacket and pulling off his scarf.

"Oh, thanks Logan I try." I walked over to the case putting my beautiful baby away then leaned it against the bookshelf. Thankfully there were no dozen or so water bottles spread around the room and no bras lying around anywhere. Yeah I might have cleaned my room last night so I didn't appear to be a dirty hermit to Logan, don't judge me. "How was practice? Oh I'll take your coat too."

"Thanks Hails." Logan dropped his backpack beside my bed and peeled off his jacket. I could see him wearing a tight black zip up with a white t-shirt underneath, it looked cute! With the scarf…the coat.. it um, it all matched! "Practice was good as usual, Carlos of course ate most of the food we all brought but it's fine. Hey you should come to our game tomorrow."

"I will! Of course Carlos ate everything." I laughed and folded his coat and scarf over my chair. I turned around back to him and the two of us stared awkwardly at each other for a moment. "Right so uh, science."

"Right yeah let me help you with that." I grabbed my books and flopped down on the bed while Logan softly sat down on the edge pulling his notes out. "Alright so let's get down to the topics for the test." He took out the review sheet and furrowed his eyebrows as he read it. I couldn't help but notice that about him, it's cute he'd definitely be a doctor. He just looks like a doctor just by reading a paper! "Okay, ready for some DNA?"

"Bring it on." I chuckled. We sprawled out our notes on the bed and I took out the text book placing it in the middle. Logan kicked off his shoes to sit on the bed and we sat Indian style across from one another. Logan took out a package of loose leaf and pulled out a few pieces for each of us.

"See I found that with studying the best method is to write what you're focusing on by hand all over again. Takes time but you retain the information better."

"Oh wow I didn't know that…"

"I'm dorky and nerdy aren't I?" Logan sighed and stared at me, I glanced up and shook my head.

"No Logan not at all."

"Really?" He didn't believe me, I chuckled and turned around to my nightstand pulling the drawer open. I pulled out my purple retainer case and a pair of circular black glasses. I put the glasses on and opened the retainer case. "Retainer and thick glasses. I always wear contacts and I wear this retainer to bed. Feeling less dorky?"

"Wow after that? DEFINITELY now I feel like a cool kid."

"Jerk." I laughed and slapped him with a pillow. He chuckled and threw it back at me. After putting the pillow back behind me we went to studying our notes for another hour or even more, I really lost track of time. My mom walked to my room and poked her head through the door, she had just gotten home and she was stilling dressed in her pant suit.

"Hey Hailey, hi there Logan."

"Hi Mrs. Thorn, how are you?"

"I'm great sweetie thanks for asking. Do you feel like staying for dinner?"

"Oh um…" Logan glanced at me and I shrugged and nodded. "That would be great Mrs. Thorn thank you!"

"Sure thing I'll get started in a few minutes. By the way your dad is picking up a strawberry shortcake on the way home, please don't eat it all like last time." Logan glanced at me raising an eyebrow.

"No promises.." She rolled her eyes and left the room.

"Wow like last time huh?"

"Oh hush just help me study!" He grinned and nodded. He has a sideways kind of crooked grin and it's absolutely adorable! I never noticed before but he has dimples and they're adorable too!

"HAILEY LOGAN COME ON DOWN!" The two of us tossed our notes aside and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. When I walked in my dad was wearing his work pants and a black t shirt, leaning on the counter and drinking a beer.

"Logan! Nice to see you kid, helping my daughter become less of an idiot?"

"Wow dad…"

"That's the goal sir." Logan laughed and my dad grinned and took another sip of beer.

"Alright alright enough teasing Hailey let's sit down and eat guys."

"Sit next to me!" Tommy commented sitting on a corner chair and pulling the one beside him out. I sighed and sat across from Logan, my mom on my right and my dad at the head of the table. My mom put a piece of steak on everyone's plates, and after passing around a bowl of mashed potatoes, which I will be finishing later, the vegetables came around.

"Hailey take carrots."

"Fine….." I muttered to my mother and piled the carrots on my plate. Logan smiled at me and piled them on too. We ate dinner and listened to Tommy explain how some girl in his class is an idiot for saying Superman is an awful superhero. I agree, Superman isn't that wonderful but whatever. After that my dad asked Logan how hockey was coming along, so Logan had no problem explaining to Tommy and my dad how they were doing.

"Dinner was great Mrs. Thorn thanks for letting me stay." Logan smiled and stood up grabbing his plate. My mom nudged me and I got the point, I stood up and grabbed the plate from him as well as mine.

"You can call me Natalie, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Hope you're not too full we still have cake to eat." Logan smiled and nodded.

"Come on Hailey I'll help you."

"It's okay Logan—"

"Yeah Logan let Hailey do it it's her job because she's a woman." Tommy said and immediately jumped into conversation about playing hockey with the boys. My dad choked on his beer and spit it out, laughing hysterically while my mom glared at my father.

"I guarantee you told him that!"

"Did not." My dad laughed hysterically. After I did the dishes my mom set the cake on the table and I carried the carton of ice cream out. Tommy and I glared at each other, we usually fight for the first piece of cake. After an intense match, neither of us got the first piece, it went to Logan, but because Tommy beat me he got the second piece. As I was eating my piece of cake and ice cream I looked up and noticed Logan glancing at me with a grin.

"What?"

"Nothing Hails this is just nice." Logan smiled and nodded and hid his face while he ate the cake. I glanced at my dad who was smirking and whispering to my mom while staring at Logan. Everyone in this household is weird… After dessert Logan helped me with the dishes. The two of us walked back upstairs to my room. I helped Logan pack up his backpack and then I gave him his jacket and scarf. He smiled his thanks and started to pull his coat on.

"So thanks for helping me out Logan! I really appreciate it."

"Oh no problem Hailey, thanks for letting me stay for dinner your family's pretty cool, even your sexist little brother." Logan laughed and zipped up his coat. "I can help again Sunday afternoon if you want, since the test is Monday.

"That would be great, come on I'll walk you down."

He nodded and the two of us ran down the stairs. "Bye Mr and Mrs Thorn! Thanks for dinner."

"No problem Logan, see ya around." My dad called from the living room, while my mother waved goodbye. I hugged him at the door and closed it behind him, when I turned around the three of them were smirking at me.

"You guys are weird…" I turned away from them and ran upstairs to my room to study again and then call it a night. On Sunday the routine repeated, except Logan stayed for lunch not dinner. Come Monday I was sitting anxiously in my seat and Logan sat beside me.

"Come on Hailey you got this, don't be so nervous."

"Well I know but I'm still going to be nervous." Logan chuckled and reached into his bag, he pulled out a pumpkin scone and set it in the middle between us. He looked at me and nodded and I reached forward ripping a piece off for myself. He whispered good luck when the test was handed out and the two of us ate the scone while we finished the exam. Logan was done after twenty minutes which made my head spin. I didn't finish until the last five minutes of class! When the bell rang we left the classroom silently. As soon as I was out the door I leaned against the wall dramatically. "That was crazy."

"Come on it wasn't so bad." Logan nudged me and I shrugged, pushing myself off the wall and walking with him to his wall. "I bet you did really well."

"I hope so! You did tutor me so I know I definitely passed but the suspense of waiting for the grade, I just can't!" Logan laughed and opened his locker up, tossing his books inside and grabbing his lunch.

"Believe me Hailey, you passed don't worry about it. Now come on, we have to go watch Carlos eat his body weight in food." He held out his arm and laughed. I chuckled and linked arms with him, we walked to my locker and after I grabbed my lunch we went to the cafeteria. When we got there the guys were seated as usual, except some kid was standing there talking to them… I think his name is…Duke? Yeah Duke I've met him before.

"Hailey! Just the girl I was looking for!"

"What?"

"Well the Holiday dance…"

"Which is a month away…" I muttered unwrapping my sandwich.

"Yeah, so I was thinking you'd look so great if you came to the dance with me." He grinned leaning on the table. James stared with his jaw dropped, and I noticed Logan looked a little tense.

"No…. thanks but no thanks I don't really go to dances, it's not my thing."

"…Are you serious?"

"I TOLD YOU SHE'S IMPOSSIBLE TO DATE! IT'S NOT MY MOJO!" James jumped up yelling. Kendall and Carlos glanced at each other and laughed.

"Yeah I'm serious I don't want to go to that dance, not you, I just don't want to go."

"So if you did want to go, would you go with me?"

"If I did want to go, and I had to choose between your or James, because I know that's where this is headed , I would go with James because at least I know him." Duke hung his head and James jumped up shouting. He did an 'I told you so' dance while Duke flipped him off and walked away. I glanced at Logan who shook his head with a roll of his eyes.

"So does that mean you'll go Hailey?" James asked hopeful.

"No I just said that so the two of you would drop the subject."

"Strike three for James' poor ego." Logan laughed.


	11. Polka Dots

Thanksgiving for me sucked huge monkey tits.

First of all, Lori came down to visit and just continued to make fun of me being single, saying how when she was in high school she had tons of guys willing to go out with her and she was never single. Ugh, she's like the female version of James, yet I actually like James. Then Tommy wouldn't stop adding on to the insults she would dish out and I wanted to take his comics and light them in front of him and watch him cry….

OH GOD THAT IS SO CRUEL WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Well anyway, the day after we drove her back up to campus. I got to see her stupid shitty room, a stupid orange color with stupid beds and a stupid boyfriend down the hall. Okay her boyfriend is kind of attractive but he seems like a douchebag. Um anyways, we drove back home and the day after Tommy ended up playing hockey with the guys while I stayed at home playing the violin, far too lazy to go outside into the cold.

Well, now we're in December, the Holiday dance is a few weeks away, so naturally the boys are plotting their plan of attack, I can't wait to learn what it is, I'm sure everyone will be devastated. Oh, also, I happened to pass that science test after all, I got an 79, sure, not the 90 I was shooting for but hell I'll take the 79 any day. Well right now I just finished taking a shower, my dad and I were cleaning the basement and it was _nasty_ down there. I mean, I'm seriously surprised I did not find a dead body down there. Then again, we didn't check inside the walls…. Anyway, I got into my room and locked the door behind me. I dropped my towel and went to the dresser pulling out some undergarments. Seems like a polka dot bra and undies type of day! As I slid them on I noticed the room was pretty…well lit considering I didn't turn the light on.

Oh my god.

I turned around quickly and saw the curtains drawn open. I ran over and grabbed the fabric between my fingers, I glanced out the window and I wanted to die. James and Carlos' faces were pressed against the windows, while Kendall and Logan lingered above them with their jaws hanging wide open. I quickly tugged the curtains closed and ran in a circle. Oh my god what has two thumbs and is a dumb bitch that forgets her curtains are drawn back?

THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE OH MY GOD.

I quickly pulled on jeans, boots and a sweatshirt. What the hell do I do? I'm supposed to go over to their house right now to hang out with them, they were going to teach me how to ice skate but now I don't know if I should go. I feel awkward. Oh my god…

**Logan's POV**

We were all guilty of gawking at Hailey through the bedroom window. Carlos noticed her first, he was getting ready to throw a snowball at her window because he thought it would be funny to scare her. Once the towel dropped through he dropped the snowball into Kendall's laundry hamper, who started yelling at him. Before I knew it we were all hovering over the window watching her pull on her underwear. Oh my god. Best thing ever. I'm sorry but what do you want from me? I'm a teenage boy it's only natural. Even when the curtains closed and she saw us, we all stared staring for a few seconds until James and I shouted.

"DIBS!" The two of us stared at each other.

"No way Logan, I said dibs first, I've had dibs for a while since I've been asking her out non-stop. You don't, and you need to respect the manual." James then pulled out this ridiculous scroll from his jacket, which makes me wonder why, and for how long he's been carrying that around.

"James don't even…"

"Look see here Logan? One must respect the rule of dibs or else the dude that breaks the code has to run half a mile in his underwear."

"James you can get every girl! Why does it have to be Hailey!?"

"….Because she rejected me, no one does that and simply…does not wish to experience the Diamond at least once."

The Diamond?

Oh god we need to get this kid's head checked out. Sometimes, I really just don't understand what's going on with him. Before I could respond there was a knock at the door. The four of us froze, what if it was her dad?

OH MY GOD

"OH MY GOD!" Carlos shouted nervously. "What if that's her dad here to beat us!?" he whispered quietly, quickly pulling on his helmet.

"Oh my god, he'll damage my hair…" James muttered.

"Your hair? Dude he'll completely murder us!" Kendall replied harshly. It was quiet, we all stood there frozen trying to hear voices, but it was perfectly quiet. The sound of footsteps on the staircase all shook us out of our frozen state. Quickly we all hid in different spots in the room. When the door opened I saw Hailey's familiar brown boots from under the bed where I was.

"Guys? Hello?" Hailey set down a pair of white ice skates on the ground and walked further into the room.. Slowly the four of us each emerged from our hiding spots. Hailey rolled her eyes and stared at the four of us.

"We saw you naked!" Carlos shouted, then quickly covered his mouth.

"That's why you were hiding?"

"No, because we thought you'd tell your dad and then he'd come in here and murder us." James nodded quickly, leaning over to peer out the door and make sure he wasn't coming in to surprise us.

"Right well, why don't we just forget that happened okay?" Hailey nodded slowly.

"Forget we saw you naked and put on our underwear?" Carlos blinked. She narrowed her eyes and nodded, pulling her jacket a little closer to herself. Well, now I feel bad like if she can't be around us without feeling awkward!

"Yes…forget exactly that." Carlos pouted and nodded, hanging his head down. James quickly walked over and draped his arm around her, I wanted to push him into a barbershop and shave his head. It's not fair he shouldn't be able to call dibs!

"Well Hails, how about we teach you to ice skate huh?"

"Sure James… but let me make this clear, no flirting or asking me out, got it?"

"You'll regret saying that!" James joked. Hailey shook her head and grabbed her ice skates. Clearly she bought them just for the occasion, they were perfectly white and untouched. We started our semi-long walk to the lake, and Hailey just hung back and talked to Kendall the entire time. I hate to say I'm jealous, but I kind of am. I was the one that saved her from that mugger by the park! Granted it was James in a costume but it still counts! Can't I get some recognition here? Ugh, whatever… when we got to the lake and to make sure it was perfectly frozen over Carlos skated over it a bit checking it out, but this time of year it's always good. The rest of us sat down and pulled on our skates, Hailey's weren't even laced, and she started to lace them the wrong way. Before I could help her, Kendall and James were lacing up the boots, so I stood up and went out onto the ice with Carlos. When the three of them got onto the ice Hailey already slipped and fell twice.

"You know guys, I thought you were supposed to keep me from falling!" She said as Kendall helped her up.

"Well we didn't think you'd fall within the first thirty seconds." He laughed and she stuck her tongue out at him. Carlos and I skated over and her knees were nearly touching, she was hunched over as she tried to maintain her balance. I moved in front of her and held her elbows, helping her steady herself.

"You are going to have a fun time with this." I chuckled. Hailey huffed and pulled away. She took one step forward and went flying forward, but Carlos caught her and helped her stand up.

"Okay, well you suck at this." He laughed and pulled on his helmet," Come on it's real easy." He started skating backwards with a grin, then skated back over to us.

"Maybe for you! I've never skated before!" Hailey defended.

"Alright well…it's not hard, ever skated with your socks?" Kendall asked, and Hailey laughed with a nod. "Well then, it's like that, watch my feet." Kendall slowly moved away from her and started skating slowly so she could watch. James held her hand and waist, skating with her slowly to help her keep her balance. My blood was boiling and I just stood there watching until Carlos nudged me.

"I like her." I blurted out quietly. "I like her and I don't want James to somehow win her over, it isn't fair!"

"OH but dude…..the code of dibs…" Carlos said.

"IT'S WORTH RUNNING HALF A MILE IN MY UNDERWEAR!" I shouted, Hailey and James turned around, James looked annoyed but Hailey started laughing, while Kendall skated over to us

"Dude, you're going to break the rule?" He asked.

"Yes I am!" I told him proudly. I watched as Hailey pulled away from James to skate on her own back to us. It was shaky, and she nearly fell over but she made it.

"Ha! I did it, and why does Logan want to run half a mile in his underwear?" She glanced at me with a smile. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, then opened them and just…blurted out what I wanted to say.

"Hailey I like you and I think you and I should go out on a date!" I blurted out, James' mouth hung open and Hailey stared at me.

"Like…a date date?"

"Yes…a date date where …it's just you and I and we go..on a date."

"I'd like that." Hailey smiled. I let out the breath caught in my chest and sighed, thank god she said yes.

"Awesome!" I skated forward until I was right in front of her and held out my hand. She smiled and grabbed it,"Now I'll teach you how to skate like a pro." I grinned and the two of us skated away from the guys, me helping her to skate and steady herself. I know James was watching wanting to murder me, oh man he's so going to rip into me later.

**Hailey's POV**

LOGAN ASKED ME OUT OH MY GOSH I AM SO EXCITED!

This is AWESOME. I'll have to tell my parents, but who cares, I know they'll let me! Lori can shove that up her ass and smoke it, ha, men do like me. Maybe James can leave it alone now. Wow, I never thought I liked Logan that much until he finally asked me out, like, my chest hurt and my stomach felt funny, I like this feeling. Well, it's weird but it's weird for a good reason! After we ice skated for a few hours, the guys walked me home and Logan surprisingly didn't leave.

"SO…you're gonna tell your dad?"

"Yeah…do you want to come in and tell him yourself?" Logan stared at the window to see my dad yelling at the TV.

"Yeah you can handle it." He chuckled and leaned over, kissing my cheek softly. "I'll see you at school."

"See ya Logan." I smiled and walked inside. I could hear the boys shouting next door.

"YOU ARE RUNNING HALF A MILE IN YOUR UNDERWEAR TOMORROW LOGAN THAT'SI T!" I heard James shout, to Logan, who replied with a 'FINE I WILL!'. Wow I really hope he doesn't do that, he'll get sick, and he thinks he's a doctor, he should know that! Ugh, boys can be such idiots. I walked in and dropped the skates by the door. After peeling away my shoes, socks, scarf hat and jacket I ran over to my dad and plopped beside him on the couch.

"Hey. How was ice skating?" He asked, not turning away from the TV.

"Great um…Logan asked me out on a date and I said yes." He slowly muted the TV and turned to me.

"Logan's the smart one that helps you with science right?"

"Yeah…" I nodded slowly, and he did too.

"Well….I mean uh, wow…you're too young!"

"Lori was 13 when she started dating, don't give me that."

"Worth a shot uhh….well… Logan's a good kid, he's definitely going places….But uh, I'll have to have a talk—"

"Daaaaaaaaad"

"Oh no, he wants to take out my last baby girl he'll have to deal with me." He said before putting the sound back on. My dad wrapped an arm around me and the two of us watch TV. I finally saw what he was shouting at, oh my god, he was shouting at Titanic 2. "OH COME ON THIS MOVIE IS SUCH SHIT!" He shouted again.


	12. Whipped Cream

It was late on a Monday afternoon, and I had Tommy with me at the town Plaza so we could meet with my dad to grab dinner. He was stuck working a double shift today, and my mom was stuck working late as well, so my dad promised he'd meet us so at least the three of us could have dinner together. Tommy shivered and pulled his hat down over his eyes, he was so cold, pft what a pussy.

"Do you want a hot chocolate while we wait?" I looked down at him and he nodded. So we walked into a small coffee shop and I bought him a hot chocolate. We went back outside to wait near the tree, like we were supposed to. He held the cup with two hands and bounced up and down as he sipped his beverage.

"Hailey look!" He stopped sipping and pointed to the right. I glanced over and my jaw dropped. Logan was running down the street in only a pair of black boxers that had test tubes all over them. Tommy started laughing and Logan glanced over at us as he was coming closer. He was red all over, he grinned, waved and continued running. Further down if I squinted I could see him bent over, panting in front of three guys. I guess that's James, Kendall, and Carlos. Logan quickly pulled on some clothes and Kendall handed him something. IT seems like James slapped him on the back and laughed but I can't tell. "Why did he do that?" Tommy asked.

"I'll tell ya later…" I mumbled as my dad's squad car parked on the curb and he got out, quickly walking over to us.

"Hey guys. How are you?" He kissed each of us on the cheek and quickly the three of us ducked into the diner.

"Good, Logan was running in his underwear right before you got here!" Tommy laughed, sliding into the booth and yanking his hat off.

"Why was Logan doing that?" My dad questioned, sliding off his jacket.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh…the rule of Dibs."

"The what?" The two of them tilted their heads staring at me.

"Well, James apparently called 'Dibs' on me, but Logan wanted to too… So instead of letting James try to ask me out, Logan just went for it, so as a punishment he had to run half a mile in his underwear."

"And you're going on a date with this kid…"

"Yes I am!" I nodded and drank the water that was placed in front of me. My dad sighed and shook his head, glancing down at the menu.

"Well, I guess I gotta give the kid credit for running half a mile in 20 degree weather.." He muttered.

**Friday**

My mom had taken off from work so she could watch Tommy at the science fair. He created a small scale-model airplane that ran on solar panels. I don't know how the fuck this small child did it but good for him. Also, good for mom taking off because she helped me get ready for the date. After I took a shower and made sure the curtains were drawn, I sat in my room in my robe as my mom took a curling iron to my hair, creating soft waves. After that she put on eyeliner and mascara for me, then picked out a soft pink lip gloss. After that we went through my clothes to try to figure out what to wear.

"Are you willing to brave the cold?" She asked, pulling out a long-sleeve cream colored sweater dress from my closet.

"….Might as well.." I shrugged and she chuckled laying the dress out along with the thick brown belt that came with it. She placed my brown boots at the foot of the bed, then left the room so I could get changed. After I found the thickest leggings I could, I changed and glanced at the mirror. "I hope he thinks I look okay." I mumbled smoothing out the dress. I put on some small hoop earrings, drenched myself in perfume and looked around for my purse. Right when I found it the doorbell rang and I could hear Tommy yelling for me to get downstairs. Quickly I grabbed my scarf, hat and gloves and ran down the stairs. I stood at the bottom of the flight to see Logan standing there with his back towards me. My dad had a hand on Logan's shoulder and he was looking down at him seriously.

"…So basically what I'm trying to say is that if you hurt my baby girl tonight I will hurt you Logan. They'll never press charges on me either because I have a badge, it'll all look like an accident. I will make it seem like you did it to yourself if I have to. So Logan, try something funny with my little girl and I will—"

"DAD! Leave him alone!" When I said that the two of them looked up, my dad shrugged and took his hand off of Logan who turned around and grinned once he saw me.

"Wow Hailey you look beautiful!" He walked over to me and held out a small bouquet of flowers to me which still had snow on top.

"Thank you! Aww Logan you're so sweet." I took the flowers from him and grinned. My mom walked over and took the flowers from me.

"I'll put these in the vase for you. Have fun okay guys?"

"Yeah don't bring her home too late either." My dad nodded. I rolled my eyes and slipped on my coat. When we were walking out the door Tommy yelled at us.

"HAVE FUN MAKING OUT!—OW!" I turned around and could see my dad slap the back of his head. I chuckled and shook my head, closing the door behind me. Once we were outside I shivered, holy fuck it is cold.

"So uh, I thought you know, it's way too cold to walk into town." I nodded slowly. "So um… I have something else in mind. I hope that's okay."

"Sure Logan let's just not stand here I'm freezing!" He smiled and nodded. After pulling on his gloves he grabbed my hand and we were walking. I smiled a bit and I skipped about two steps before I realized I was doing that, so I quickly stopped so I didn't seem weird. Before I knew it we were in front of his house. I've never been inside before, I've been outside, when my dad would sometimes drop him off from tutoring me, but…never inside. He opened the door and it smelled like apple pie. It was so warm and inviting. I glanced up at Logan and his cheeks were rosy red as he pulled off his hat and jacket, hanging it on a coat rack. He turned to me and peeled off my coat, hanging it up with my hat and scarf. Soon an older woman came bounding in and smiled.

"Logie-Bear! Hi baby!" She grinned and kissed his cheeks a million times. She turned to me and smiled. "You must be Hailey! Wow Logan she's gorgeous!" Okay, I know my cheeks turned red, that was the nicest thing.

"Thank you! It's nice to meet you Mrs. Mitchell." I smiled and stuck my hand out to shake hers, but she pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight.

"She's so polite I love it. Well I'll leave you two alone for your little date! Logan planned the most adorable thing right Logie-Bear?" She pinched his cheeks and he groaned and nodded.

"Moooooooom…."

"Right sorry! Have fun you too!" She scurried off and Logan stared at me.

"Uh…so that's my mom."

"I can tell Logie-Bear!" I laughed hysterically and he rolled his eyes.

"Laugh all you want I bet you have a funny name too!"

"No I'm normal" I chuckled and Logan rolled his eyes, dragging me to the living room. When we got there the fireplace was roaring with a beautiful fire. On a plate there were graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows laid out. There was a stack of DVD's, blankets, pillows, on the couch. The TV set was mounted above the fireplace, holy crap, that's so awesome.

"Um so I thought…you know this is warm and..a cool first date uh—"

"It's a lovely first date." I grinned and kissed his cheek. "It's very sweet." I plopped down on the couch. "So what's first, movies, s'mores?"

"Well, first off, would you like some of my famous hot chocolate?"

"Woah, famous hot chocolate huh? I definitely need some of that!"

"Then I will be right back." He smiled and tapped my nose, then ran off. I chuckled and shook my head glancing around. The walls were a soft peach color, there were plenty of family pictures and they were so adorable. Logan was the cutest baby oh my gosh! A couple of minutes later Logan walked in with two giant mugs with peppermint sticks sticking out of each. I looked in and there was whipped cream and cookie crumbles on top.

"Well, this is very famous indeed." I chuckled.

"You gotta try it before I believe ya Hails." He smiled. I nodded and took a sip, honestly, I was not expecting it to be good.

"Woah, this is delicious." I blinked and took another long sip, it burned but it was worth it. "Agh so good…" I mumbled.

"You have a mustache…" He chuckled staring at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and stuck my tongue out, licking the mustache away. "Almost, missed a spot." He pointed to the corner of my mouth then quickly leaned in and kissed it. "Now it's gone." I blinked staring at him, then stuck my finger in the mug and put a bit of whipped cream on my lips.

"I don't know, I think I missed a spot." Logan stared at me, he smiled biting his lip and leaned in and kissed me on the lips, and it was the best thing ever. Granted I feel a bit like a ho for pulling that move, I don't know why, but it was worth it. He has the softest lips ever and I can tell people I had famous hot chocolate right before my first kiss. Oh my god Logan is my first kiss!

OH HAPPY DAYS!

Logan pulled away and the two of us just smiled at each other. After that we watched Christmas movies while making s'mores. Logan made a triple decker s'more. It was intensely awesome and he somehow managed to eat it without making a mess everywhere. After that his mom gave us some apple pie and ice cream, ugh so many sweets but it's all so good! We watched some more movies, my favorite being How The Grinch Stole Christmas, with Jim Carrey of course. After that Logan ran to the kitchen and he came back with two bowls of macaroni and cheese. We ate together, made a few s'mores, watched another movie and then Logan said it was time to take me home. I hadn't even realized it was eleven.

"Your dad said home before eleven thirty or he'd shoot me." I laughed and nodded, then together we faced the cold winter air. Logan walked me to my house and we held hands the whole way there.

"I really loved our date Logan. It was so cute and adorable and just….it was a perfect first date!" I told him, standing outside the door.

"I'm glad you liked it Hailey, that's what I aimed to do." He smiled and stood closer to me. Logan leaned down and softly kissed me, we heard a door open and I thought it was to my house. But I turned around and we saw Kendall, Carlos, and James peeking out of his door and staring. "Alright, well goodnight Hailey I will see you tomorrow."

"See you Logan." I chuckled and hugged him tightly, opening the door to get inside. My dad was sitting on the sofa of the living room, he glanced at the clock then at me.

"11:20, good kid, he was early. How was it? What did you do?"

"We went to his house, he said it was so cold he didn't want me to freeze. His mom is really nice. We made s'mores in the fireplace, watched Christmas movies, ate apple pie his mom made, and Logan made me his famous hot chocolate. It was a really nice first date daddy." I took my jacket off and curled up beside him.

"You really like this boy don't you?"

"Yeah…well…he's so…sweet and this date was just, wonderful!"

"I'm glad princess…" My dad stroked my hair then kissed me on top of my head. God, today was perfect.


	13. Think Fast

The next day I had some time to kill before bringing Tommy over to the guys to play hockey, so I decided to swing by the grocery store to hang out with Kendall. Logan was at a book signing for some weird math lady, James was practicing for the talent show, and Carlos was with his parents getting a second Christmas tree. Apparently Carlos was fooling around in his house and slipped into the tree, he pulled it to the ground and when he lifted it back up, he was pulling apart the branches.

"So what are you doing for the holidays?" Kendall asked pushing a row of shopping carts along.

"Ah, well we're going back to New York to visit my family and friends. Sadly I won't be here to spend Christmas with you guys."

"Really? Damn you'll miss out, all our family's get together at Carlos' house. He usually dunks his head in the punch bowl!"

"Really? You'll need to take a picture for me!"

"Will do Hails." Kendall smiled and picked up a broom to clean the aisles, so I followed him along with a garbage pail and dust pan. "So tell me, how was the date?"

"Wonderful!" I sighed happily holding the bag out for him. "I had no idea Logan could be so sweet!"

"Neither did any of us." He chuckled in response," What did he do?"

"Well, we went to his house where I found out his name is actually Logie-Bear." The two of us laughed hysterically. "We watched Christmas movies, made s'mores, he made me his famous hot chocolate, it was so cute and warm!"

"Wow, good for you guys! So when is the next date?" He leaned on the broom stick wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"I don't know… but I can't wait for it." Kendall nodded and swept until the floor was clean. I then followed him as he restocked the aisles. Gee, maybe I should work here too.

"So, James, talent show? What?"

"Ugh, our chorus teacher decided instead of giving us a final exam, he wants us to perform in the talent show for our final grade. I really don't want to."

"Why not?"

"I don't know just not feeling up to it, seems stupid. James of course is going to sing, like most of the chorus kids. I think I'll just play violin."

"That'll be cool, but why don't you sing? I bet it sounds nice!"

"My sister sings, that's her thing, never actually enjoyed it too much." Kendall nodded. "Plus I already have to sing with chorus for the winter concert, and perform with the strings."

"You're a busy bee Hailey Thorn."

"Tell me about it…." I stayed with him until his shift was over, he explained to me their plan to prank the holiday dance. They're going to fill the balloons with water, you know, the balloons that rest in a net above the dance hall until the very end of the party, where they fall at the very end and apparently it's really awesome… Well the balloons are going to fall and explode at the end of the night to make everyone soaking wet before they hit that cold December air. Wow, sometimes these boys are just too much. After that we walked to his house where the boys were sitting by his front door. Logan and I glanced at each other for a moment until he smiled and pulled me in for a hug. We pulled away and James rolled his eyes.

"Does this mean now you'll go to the dance?" He asked.

"No, I still don't want to, and especially not after hearing the prank."

"You'll be missing out!" Carlos sang, grinning and elbowing me.

"I know.." I chuckled and shook my head. "So what do you guys want for Christmas?" Kendall and Logan were quickly saying not to get them anything for Christmas while shaking their heads. Meanwhile James and Carlos were shouting requests for nerf guns, videogames, girls, and food. "Okay okay! I'll figure something out for you boys!" I shook my head and turned around hearing a door slam. Tommy had stepped out of the house with his own skates hanging on his shoulders, a hockey stick, and a helmet buckled securely on his head. "He wants to play, so I'm going to go inside and practice my music. I'll see you guys around." I hugged each of them, Logan and I stared at each other before he quickly pecked me on the lips. The boys made fun of him and were teasing him, except Tommy who said it was gross. Oh, one day he'll see it's not so gross after all.

I stayed in my room the rest of the day practicing the violin. Ah, I love it but sometimes it can get to be a pain in the ass having to constantly practice the same song. Later that evening my mom came home on time for once. Usually she's late, getting stuck in traffic or at work but finally she's home to cook dinner at a reasonable hour. My mom walked into my room and decided to interrupt my practice with amazingly shitty news, that we might not be going to New York after all.

"What?" I shouted, putting my instrument down. "Why!?"

"There's a huge blizzard that is supposed to hit next week, we might get stuck on the road to the airport, in the airport…"

"No we have to go back! You promised me we would, I want to see my friends I told them I was coming and that we'd finally go out and do things like ice skating or getting lost in Manhattan!"

"I'm sorry sweetie…but hey you have friends here you can do that with!"

"That's not the same!" I shouted. "I miss Amanda and Riley! I miss my old orchestra and school, I want to see them."

"Hailey, don't raise your voice at me."

"Then learn to make promises you can fucking keep!"

Oh shit.

I knew as soon as I said that I was in trouble. My mom blinked and slapped me hard across the face. Okay, I suppose I do deserve that.

"You know what? You're grounded for the rest of the month! Oh and you know what missy? If we do go to New York you're staying here while the rest of the family enjoys the city and seeing their friends and family." She put her hands on her hips, trying to establish her authority by staring me down.

"Good! Hopefully you'll get stuck in New York and stay there and become less of a dumb person!"

"You are such a spoiled little brat!"

"Yeah!? Well you're a bitch that loves me less than the other two! Dad loves me so much more than you do!"

HAILEY STAHP.

HAILEY NO!

Ugh too late, as soon as I said that her face fell, and I couldn't tell if she was angry and wanting to beat me or upset. She straightened up and pointed at the door behind her.

"I can't deal with you right now. Go outside and don't you dare come home until your father gets home to deal with you." She watched as I stood there motionless and shouted for me to go when she saw I hadn't made any effort to leave. I quickly pulled on my shoes and grabbed my jacket before running out the door. Okay, fine I'll admit I'm out of line but that doesn't change my feelings. I do honestly think she loves them more than she loves me. She took off from work for Tommy's science fair, but not once did she take off in New York to see any of my shows. Then when Lori chose to come here for College, mom decided it was time for us to pack up and follow her. I bet if I decided to go away for college she wouldn't back up and follow me somewhere! I'm not her precious little boy or her oldest daughter, I'm just the middle child to bridge the gap between the two.

Not quite sure what to do now actually. Dad might get home on time, and he might just get stuck at work. Either way I'm kind of fucked because it's cold outside and I don't want to be outside. I sighed and watched my breath dance in front of me before floating away. I stuffed my hands into my coat pockets and started trudging through the snow towards the park. Might as well go to the park and be entertained by the boys right? The only reason I hate going to the park when it's this late is because it's so god damn dark. I mean really, even the lights aren't that helpful. Snow, as bright white as it is, makes everything seem darker, and quite frankly a bit scary! I mean, if I were a serial killer I'd lie underneath the snow and when someone walked by, I'd shoot out of the snow and grab them. Wow, I think I have issues.

The lake started coming into view, and I could hear Carlos shouting 'woo' and James laughing. As I was walking I smelled alcohol. I better not catch them drinking with my little brother I swear I'll—wait I wouldn't be able to smell that from here. I glanced to my right and noticed a few people from school were sitting around on a few rocks and fallen trees passing around a few bottles. Huh, okay so I recognize Duke but the other three I have no idea…..wait those are the guys that bullied Logan. Duke noticed me and stood up and walked over with a grin. Hmmmm…should I mess with him? Oh my gosh, I hope he's super wasted. Sorry but if he's super wasted I can pretend my name is ummm..Oprah, or say I'm the Queen of England and force him to bow down and bark like a dog.

….What? It would be super funny, don't deny that.

"_Haaaay-leeeeeee_" He slurred and walked over, holding on a tree trunk to support himself as he looked down at me. "What is such an okay-looking red-head doing out here all alone?"

…OKAY LOOKING!? I AM NOT OKAY LOOKING I AM PRETTY DAMN IT MY RED HAIR IS SPECIAL AND IT MAKES MY HAIR LOOK BETTER THAN MOST GIRLS PIECE OF SHIT.

"…Going to meet up with the guys over there." I pointed in the direction of the five who were still playing on the ice. Duke pretended to be surprised, then chuckled leaning in closer to me.

"Did you know..those three? They _hate_ them! I was like….dude that's crazy, but they're cool dudes, so now we're all cool dudes together, we were thinking of ambushing them with snow and shit."

"Uhhh, well maybe you shouldn't do that! You know don't cause any problems that'll just…cause a whole fiasco with the hockey team and things will be awkward and you won't want that right?"

"Oh…woah you're right. Smart!" He ruffled my hair and the three guys finally got up and walked over, they were wondering what Duke was doing and who he was talking to.

"OHHH I know this one, that's Logan's little girlfriend." Zack looked down at me and the corners of his mouth twisted into a sick grin. "want a drink?" He held out the bottle towards me and I shook my head.

"No..i'm good I'm gonna go now…"

"Naaah come on stay. You look cold. Alcohol will warm you right up." He dangled the bottle in front of me and again I shook my head. He rolled his eyes and shoved the bottle to Duke. "You're like him aren't ya? You're a goody-goody like Logan?"

"…No not really—"

"Then drink, come on."

" I don't want to…"

"well it's either drink, or you gotta kiss me." He smirked and leaned forward. Ewwwww…. EWWW WHAT A WEIRDO EW WHAT THE HELL!?"

'I'm not doing that."

"You really don't gotta choice do ya girl?"

"I do, and my choice is neither!" I shoved him away and he laughed. Fuck dude I really can't be that weak my shoves hurt people!...Alright maybe Tommy shouldn't count as a person he's short.

"You still ain't strong enough to push me away." He towered over me and put his hands on both sides of the tree, boxing me in.

"Zack ease up man she doesn't wanna be here." Duke muttered glancing at me. Oh look at that, he has a conscience.

"Oh come on Duke you can't say you aren't the least bit curious about what's under the coat." Zack tugged at the zipper and I quickly kneed him between the legs. HA! TAKE THAT BITCH I'M NOT WEAK NOW AM I? Zack fell over holding himself and I glanced at Duke. "Don't be a loser like him okay Duke?! Go home!" I glanced down at Zack who was being pulled up to his feet by his friends. I quickly took off and shortly I was within the sight of the boys, who grinned and waved me over. I glanced back, I couldn't see them that well amongst the trees, but I could make out Duke staring in my direction. I slid onto the ice and fell backwards. I cursed and Tommy laughed hysterically. Fine, ice and boots are a poor combo. Logan skated over and quickly helped me up.

"Hey Hails, what are you doing here?" He furrowed his eyebrows when I stared up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Uhhhh…Yeah! Yeah I'm fine just uhhh…little bit o' drama at home…..no big deal." I nodded and he didn't seem convinced. Well no way will I tell any of them what just happened. I just want that to die out and go byebye. Can't tell Tommy I got in a fight with mom either, don't want to worry him…not like he'd care though…huh. I wonder what he'd think.

"Think fast!" I looked over and Carlos had thrown a snowball in my face. Tommy fell over laughing and Carlos giggled high fiving him.

"Real nice Los…." I muttered, wiping the snow from my face.


	14. Secret Room

**(HI GUYS! I HAD THE BEST IDEA FOR A SEQUEL EVER AND I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AHH! And I've been slacking in this department but I'd like to thank you guys for the reviews :D they really keep me going. AppleManderin, BeccaRawrsATL, crazyaboutbooks1309)**

Well, first class of the day is awesome, because we have a substitute teacher. Of course we were given work to do so after I did the work, I told the teacher I was going to go to the bathroom, so I grabbed my bag and waited out in the hallway until Carlos finished copying my work. Now the two of us are just roaming around the hallways talking to each other. After going to a few snack machines he gasped and grabbed my arm, dragging me up a staircase then down a hallway I've never noticed before. We came upon a small door and walked in, inside were a few desks and old chairs, numerous wrappers and loose leaf paper hanging around, plus drawings and a sandwich rotting in the corner. "I found this place freshman year when we were running away from a teacher after putting a thumbtack on his chair." He laughed and sat down on a desk. I shook my head and walked over to the window, opening it up to let in some fresh air. I glanced out and window and shook my head. I could see the girl's PE Class running around on the field.

"Wow, perfect view too huh?" Carlos jumped up and looked out the window, he looked back at me and shrugged with a devious grin, then glanced back out the window. I laughed and grabbed a tiny bag of potato chips, tearing it open and shoving my hand in.

"So you're still grounded huh?"

"No, they can't really enforce it because I have an afterschool club and I take Tommy out to do things, but my mom and I aren't really talking."

"That sucks." Carlos frowned and sat on a desk again, crossing his legs and facing me. "I can't imagine what I'd do if my mom didn't talk to me."

"Well…we'll fix it." I shrugged and ate a potato chip. My dad was livid with me. He could not believe I spoke that way to my mom, so he took away the thing I loved the most. He took the violin and even though I have a concert soon he isn't letting me touch it. Man, I should have said Tommy was the thing I loved the most, maybe he'd take him away too. "So, how did the prank go?" I chuckled and Carlos' eyes lit up.

"Oh my god it was perfect. You know Taylor, the one you almost got into a fight with?" He waited for my response and when I realized he was I nodded so he could continue the story. "Well when the balloons fell she was one of the people that got soaked the most! And her hair curled up into an afro, and her boobs soaked up all the water cause she stuffs with tissues!" Carlos laughed hysterically, throwing his head back, holding his stomach, and kicking his legs. I laughed hysterically too, sliding off of the desk and landing on the ground, which made Carlos laugh even more.

"That is awesome!" I giggled pulling myself together. "Oh man, did her face melt too?!"

"LIKE A POPSICLE IN JULY!" The two of us continued laughing until we just couldn't do it anywhere. "Oh man Carlos, that's epic."

"I know!" Carlos went on to tell me more stories of the stuff the boys had done before I moved here. I don't really get to spend time with just Carlos, so this was cool for the both of us to talk one on one more. Well, we do have class just him and I but it's not the same when he's desperately trying to distract the teacher so we can leave early. After stories we played tic-tac-toe, and told each other stories on how we loved to be stupid little kids that walked into walls and fell. Turns out I wasn't the only kid who has managed to fall off a slide more than once. When the bell rang we left the secret miniature classroom and went to English where James was waiting for us. After that they dropped me off at my science class with Logan. The two of us performed yet another lab experiment, I'm not sure what the hell we did, but I'm just thankful there was no cutting up of animals involved.

"Next class, we'll dissect a baby shark!" My jaw dropped while Logan grinned in excitement. He glanced at me and laughed, putting his hand on the small of my back and guiding me out the classroom.

"Aww what's the matter Hails? Not excited?"

"Logan when we dissected the frog I nearly threw up! It's a baby shark, it's a cute wittle thing I can't cut it open and hold back the flaps of flesh…."

"It's okay you don't have to, I'll do it." He chuckled and I cringed.

"Great…"

"I think so! Hey look I need to go ask my coach something, I'll meet you at the cafeteria alright? You mind?"

"Not at all go ahead Logan." He kissed my cheek sweetly and left. The other day since I couldn't really go outside for a date, we stayed in school and went on a 'date'. See, he had hockey practice and I pretended to have an extra rehearsal since the concert is soon. So while we were waiting for the two of those to begin we walked into the cafeteria and had a late lunch date just the two of us. Didn't feel like a date, but I still enjoyed it, I got to spend time with him alone after all.

I was walking towards my locker and I could see Zack leaning against it. I groaned when I approached him. "What do you want?"

"What, no Logan today?"

"No, no Logan today so get off of my locker." He shrugged and pushed himself off of the locker. He slapped my books down to the floor and then shoved me. I fell backwards and winced at the impact.

"Come on Zack you gotta push a girl?" I was helped up to my feet, by Duke, surprisingly!

"Why not? It's like pushing Logan, same thing."

"It's not, stop being an asshole to the two of them alright? It's not fucking funny anymore and you've got no reason to be such a dick." Zack chuckled and stepped closer to Duke who pushed me behind him.

"Standing up for them are you Duke?"

"I am." Zack looked at him and nodded.

"You changed man." Zack shook his head and walked away. Duke turned around and I nodded, mumbling a thanks and opening my locker to grab lunch.

"Thanks Duke,,,you didn't have to do that."

"Kind of did, no one was here to stand up for you." He grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"So what's your deal huh? You confuse me Duke."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, first you were just a little..flirty slut like James. Then you were this guy who drinks with the bad boys, now you're this guy who stands up to the bad boy. So what's your angle? Trying to play a new game here?" Duke sighed and walked beside me as we went to the cafeteria.

"That night when you saw us… the way Zack was treating you…" Duke looked down and shook his head, the dark brown curls falling into his eyes. "It made me realize that's not someone I want to be….so uh….Thanks Hailey, it made me realize I was turning into a real dick."

"A drunk guy trying to unzip my jacket made you realize that? Wow, maybe I should go on television like that." Duke shook his head and playfully elbowed me. I laughed and the two of us joked around a bit on the way to the cafeteria. When we got through the double doors I saw Logan had actually beaten me there. Duke patted my back and said goodbye and I sat at the table at my usual spot.

"Did Duke just walk you here and not kiss or hug you?" James asked in disbelief.

"Yeah what's up with that? Didn't know you two were friends!" Kendall added glancing at Logan. I glanced at Logan too, and he sat there just staring at me with a blank face.

"Zack was at my locker and he pushed me, Duke just told him to leave me alone and walked me here. That's all, alright?" I glanced at Logan who nodded. He pushed a container in front of me and I furrowed my eyebrows opening it. It was a slice of his mom's apple pie…and a scoop of ice cream on top that was slowly melting over it.

"Had to run outside and get it from my mom, I knew you loved it on our date soo-"

"THANK YOU LOGAN YOU ARE THE BEST!" I grabbed his face and kissed him hard then quickly dug into the apple pie goodness. Carlos tried to shove a fork in but I slapped his hand away. "Tell your mom I said thank you!"

"Sure." He said with wide eyes and a grin, nodding.

"How come she gets special treatment? If I want your mom to do that for me I have to be dating you too?" Carlos pouted and Kendall and I broke down laughing.

"You could try dating his mom, I'm sure it'd be even better." James added.

"ZIP IT JAMES!" Logan shouted and James chuckled shaking his head. For the rest of lunch it was back and forth joking around between all of us, as well as planning for Christmas.

"So Hailey, what do you want for Christmas?" Logan asked.

"Logan you can't just ask! That's your girlfriend you have to surprise her." Kendall said immediately after. I found myself blushing at the word girlfriend. Logan frowned at Kendall.

"Yes I can so ask!"

"No you can't! I can ask though." Kendall wiggled his eyebrows and glanced at me. "What do you want for Christmas Hailey?"

"ummmm…I don't know.." The boys all groaned and sunk in their seats. "What!?"

"You're such a girl!" Carlos whined. "You know what you want! Just tell us!"

"I really don't! Umm…my favorite color is red….I like apple pie…"

"We'll figure something out." Carlos grumbled. I chuckled and after lunch we all went to our classes. I bumped into Duke in the hallway and said hello, and I swear to the gods of music that Logan growled. Not like stared at him wanting to kill…well he did do that, but no Logan growled like an animal! HE can't be jealous, can he? That makes no sense! Why would Logan be jealous of Duke I like Logan a lot..I mean…. A lot. Actually I feel like I like him more than he likes me….but that shouldn't be a problem, it's the holiday season, things always get better in the holiday season.

**Friday**

You know, I had a feeling my mom would not show up at this concert. I just called it! Even the guys and their parents are here. I peeked out the curtain and I could see James sitting with Kendall, his mom and sister. I've never actually seen his parents….I don't feel comfortable asking about them though. Next to them Carlos sat next to his dad and fell asleep on his shoulder, and beside them Logan was with his grandma and mother. I giggled to myself when I saw his grandmother wrap her arms around him and kiss him on the cheek. Aw how adorable, he's a granny's boy! Finally at the end of the row my dad sat with Tommy, Lori, who was now on break, and….my mom!

Wow….woopsies I guess I judged too soon. My teacher whispered for me to sit down and I did, right before the curtains opened. The boys were all hollerin' and cheering for me before it even started. I glanced over and James gave a thumbs up holding up the trophy he had won at the talent show last night. He's so…vain, but he's…nice. Wow, I just admitted he's nice… huh. Anyways, we went through our songs, and even though there were a few mistakes, it wasn't too bad. I'm actually kind of disappointed with the way it turned out. The audience wasn't though, they clapped and cheered and my dad was standing up clapping. I smiled a bit and when the curtains fell I quickly got up and ran away to put the instrument away and leave. Now all I have to worry about is Christmas…


	15. Nerf Gun

It was the day before we were supposed to leave for New York. Dad, Tommy, and Lori were outside getting last minute items, so I was stuck at home with my mom. She sat at the kitchen counter sipping her coffee and wrapping a tiny box with red wrapping paper. I walked over to her and she looked at me before going back to wrapping. "Mom?" She glanced at me and pushed the gift to the side. "I'm sorry…. I'm sorry for cursing at you and making you feel terrible. For saying you didn't love me…I feel bad about it… so…I'm sorry." I knew that once she showed up to the concert I had owed her an apology.

"I'm sorry you felt that way Hailey." She said quietly, taking my hands into hers. "I'm sorry you feel as though I don't love you as much as Tommy and Lori, because that isn't true. Look.. I know it seems like I don't…pay as much attention to you but...that's because you're different Hailey."

"Um..what? Am I adopted?"

"No smart ass." My mom shook her head with a smile. "Look, Tommy's my little anti-social boy, I worry about it. Lori….well, you know her. She's not quite mature and she thinks she's going to be famous and have everything handed down to her. You though, you're… just the right little mix. You're older than you think you are—"

"Oh my god was I left back in pre-school!?"

"NO HAILEY!" I giggled and my mom sighed dramatically. "You're more mature for your age, you take care of Tommy even when he's a little rude about it. You let Lori think she's a pop star just to make her happy even though she can't sing a note at all, but did it so she'd be happy. I leave you alone because it seems like….you don't really need me."

"I'll always need my mom….I may...be mature or nice but, when it comes to boys and dating I'm about as smart as Lori is, I know nothing at all."

"Then, I guess my little girl needs me after all." My mom smiled and the two of us hugged. Afterwards I ran upstairs and wrapped the gifts I had gotten the boys. I got them each a nerf gun and a bag of fruit snacks. Hopefully they'll like it. I used up the last of the money I had saved from New York, but I think it'll be worth it. I also got Tommy a comic book, Lori a pink microphone, because well, I don't give a shit as to what she gets for Christmas, and my mom and dad I got cards and a scented candle for each. I know, it seems a little weird, but my dad **loves** scented candles. Mom decided to get gifts for the parents, we got lots of cookie baskets and scented bath ..package thingies. I don't know what they're called, but we got those!

**Christmas Day**

GUESS WHERE I AM BITCHES

Not in fucking New York that's for sure…

Stupid blizzard. Didn't even happen here, happened in NEW YORK! All flights in and out were cancelled so we can't friggin' go. Oh no, it's great, not like I wanted to see my grandparents or friends anyway. Hmph, load of crap that's what I think it is. Well, we all unwrapped our gifts this morning at home. My parents got me a few sweaters, a new music stand, and a fluffy new hat. Lori actually got me a few books. All on how to 'please your man', 'how to kiss', 'how to be the perfect girlfriend.' It's really fucked up actually but… I sort of need these books so …. Whatever I pretended to be mad. She gave Tommy a stack of comic books. After we ate brunch together and finished unwrapping our presents, we took all of the gifts we were giving out and put them into the car. As my dad was loading up the trunk of my mom's minivan he turned around and noticed Kendall leaving with a stack of boxes too.

"Hey Jennifer you guys want a lift?" My dad offered.

"That would be great Nathan thanks so much!" His mom smiled warmly and told Katie to hop in the car. Lori and I moved to the very back so they could come in and sit. Tommy refused to move because that was his favorite spot, so Katie sat beside him and they read his comic book together. Kendall moved to the back and sat beside me, while his mom sat in front of us beside Katie. Jennifer talked to my parents while Kendall and I made up silly songs about Mr. Hanky from South Park.

When we got to Carlos' house the door was thrown open by his mom. "Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Come on in guys!" She ushered us all in, I nearly fell carrying the boxes but you know, no one noticed so it's all good. I walked in and Carlos was there wearing his helmet with his dad who was wearing his motorcycle helmet. Oh my god that is too perfect. James was with some man, I guess that's his dad, they were talking and joking around, and Logan was sitting with his grandmother, with his mom beside him trying to feed him. I giggled and shook my head. After Kendall and I set down the presents by the tree we walked over to Carlos who handed us Christmas hats and cups of eggnog. Once James left his dad and Logan was able to pull away from his grandmother we all sat on the floor talking.

"Your sister is hot." James blurted out, watching Lori saunter over to talk to his dad, oh my god I feel like this will end poorly.

"My sister has a boyfriend, lay off James." He pouted and snapped his fingers. Logan was sitting across from me and out of nowhere he smiled wide. I turned around and saw his grandmother standing there wearing a blue dress. He quickly got up and walked over, draping an arm around her.

"Grandma this is my girlfriend Hailey. Hailey, my grandma." Carlos, James, and Kendall all said 'aww' in an attempt to tease him, but it seems like he didn't mind. I stood up and shook her hand, she pushed it away and hugged me instead.

"So nice to meet you. My little Hortense talks about you all the time!"

"Um…Hortense?"

"Oh dear that's his real name, James' mother just made them call him Logan."

"Ohhhhhh…I never knew that…." I glanced at Logan who sighed. Awwwww, Horton hears a Who!

"What lovely hair you have! I love the color…I can see why Logan is so infatuated with you." She glanced at Logan who was blushing and staring at the ground.

"Well I'm pretty infatuated with your grandson as well." I smiled at her and she nodded, kissing Logan on the forehead and giving him a tight hug before walking away. "HORTON HEARS A WHO!" I shouted pointing at him.

"OH come on!"

"What? I'm sorry I couldn't resist." I chuckled and sat back down on the floor. We all sat around drinking eggnog listening to Christmas Carols. Carlos looked around and noticed none of the adults were paying attention to us. One by one we snuck into the kitchen and Carlos went to the bottom of the refrigerator pulling out a huge cake.

"Strawberry shortcake, if we hurry we can finish it all before they notice!" Carlos said handing out forks to each of us. Logan glanced at me with a grin, but then shook his head.

"I don't know guys we might get in trouble, the cake is for everyone."

"OH come on Logan no one would ever know!" Carlos reasoned.

"Yeah live a little ,it's just some cake.." Kendall grinned.

"Come on Logan, be bad!" I smiled wide and dug into the cake first. We were destroying that cake, I mean it had no chance. We had only a quarter of the cake left to go, but we heard a cough behind us. We turned around slowly and my dad and Carlos' dad stood there with their arms crossed over their chests.

"See? I knew once you mentioned strawberry shortcake my kid would be in here destroying it." My dad shook his head staring at me.

"You boys, and girl are in trouble." Carlos' dad added while staring at us. We all looked at each other, dropped the forks and took off running. The last one out was James, who got stopped by both of the officers. Carlos and Kendall ran upstairs while Logan made a sharp turn and dragged me down the hall to a door that led to a staircase. Soon enough we were in the basement hiding.

"Nice idea Hailey." He snorted.

"Hey, you ate cake too!" I replied with a whisper. He shook his head and we sat there quietly for a moment.

"Oh yeah, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too Logan." I laughed and hugged him, then kissed him sweet on the lips. Logan smiled and kissed me back, then pulled away quickly in case they found us. The door opened and we hid underneath the stairs.

"Huh, so how many spiders are down there Garcia?" I heard my dad ask. As soon as he said spiders I screamed and started running up the stairs, Logan was running up too to get away from them. "I knew that would draw you out." My dad held on to my shoulders with a laugh and started walking me to the living room.

"That is cheating dude!"

"Well, stop eating strawberry shortcakes then and we'll be fine." He laughed. I saw James pouting sitting on the couch with Carlos. Logan and I sat beside them and Kendall was the last one to be found. Our punishment was that we had to serve everyone else dinner first, and we were forced to open our presents last! How cruel is that! Waaah! Well at dinner I noticed there were dino nuggets, corn dogs pasta, vegetables, chicken, a whole variety of food that each family had brought over. Carlos ate half the tray of corndogs, while his dad ate the other. Now I see where he gets that from…

After dinner everyone could finally open the presents, but of course we were last. I walked over to the boys and handed them each a box. Carlos and James ripped theirs open so quickly when I blinked they were already holding the guns.

"NERF GUNS! AWESOME!" They yelled and smiled high fiving each other. Logan and Kendall took out the guns too and grinned loading them up while Carlos ate his package of fruit snacks.

"Thank you Hailey!" They all said at the same time, moving forward to give me a hug.

"You're welcome, Merry Christmas!"

"We got you something too!" Carlos got up and scrambled to the tree, pulling out a box and handing it to me, while Logan pulled something from behind his back and gave it to me too. "Hope you like it." He smiled softly. I opened the box first and grinned, it was a snow globe with the New York City skyline.

"Aw….thanks you guys…"

"That way you always have a bit of New York with you." Kendall smiled sweetly. I grinned and gave each of them a hug and went back to the present Logan gave me. I ripped off the wrapping paper and gasped. It was an adorable chocolate teddy bear with a light brown bow.

"Your dad said you like to collect teddy bears." Logan nodded. James, Carlos, and Kendall all started laughing hysterically, I turned to my dad mortified and he shrugged and laughed. HE WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO TELL ANYONE THAT WHAT THE HELL! "You don't like it?" Logan frowned.

"No Logan! I love it, I love teddy bears I just didn't… want him to exactly share that I collect bears." I nodded. Logan smiled a bit and nodded. I got up and gave him a tight hug, kissing him on the cheek and sitting beside him. He put an arm around me, playing with the button on the nerf gun. "Go play with them."

"Yeah?"

"Go ahead.."

"Sweet." He got up and shot Carlos in the face, running away quickly while the other three chased him. Well, this isn't New York, but um….this isn't a bad trade either.


	16. Heartless Jerk

**Hehehe, I'm gonna make a sequel I got the PERFECT idea for it. YES**

Snow hasn't been entirely harsh in Minnesota. Okay, yes it has been, BUT the boys have been shoveling a lot of houses and making good cash for it, so they're totally living off of this. I… have not been working, I'm lazy. I've just been doing work at home, by that, I mean doing chores. I get thirty dollars every two weeks, which if I save my money and not spending, I'll enough cash to get everyone a present next Christmas! Anyways, right now I'm sitting in Kendall's house with Tommy and Katie. I figured I'd wait for the boys to come back before I took Tommy home! We were watching TV and then the door swung open, the boys ran in and locked it behind them before diving onto the sofa.

"Let me guess…" I looked the boys up and down; they looked like they went through hell. "Prank gone wrong?"

"Girls field hockey team…I told them not to do it!" Logan reasoned, sitting beside me and draping an arm around me. "Hey Tommy!"

"Sup Logan!" Tommy smiled wide. He has certainly gotten much nicer and more talkative, especially with Logan around. Logan relates to the science-y side of him, while James is slowly teaching my little brother to become a womanizer. I guess that all works out well, I mean he's ten and doesn't need to be a womanizer but whatever…

"Alright, so what was the prank this time?"

"We turned on the sprinklers while they were practicing." Kendall and James grinned at each other as they said it, giving one another a high five. I shook my head with a laugh. "Taylor must have been happy about that huh?"

"Oh she totally beat James up the worst." Carlos nodded.

"She didn't beat me up! I _let_ her touch me."

"Sure you did." Carlos snorted. James growled and plopped down on the sofa. James saw that there were no seats left for him, so he sat on the floor in front of us. He grabbed the remote from me and turned on the news. James watched in amazement as some Gustavo Rocque guy was on the news, auditioning people in Minnesota, in town actually, to be the next big thing.

"Isn't he that washed up music producer?" I asked and Kendall was the only one who knew what I was talking about. "Yeah he hasn't had a good hit in years."

"What a shame." I shook my head while James was flipping out that no one told him this was going on.

"Carlos…" Kendall mumbled.

"I'm on it." Carlos tapped his helmet twice and tackled James.

"Wow…" Tommy shook his head watching them fight. We continued to watch the news report, and Gustavo said he'd be there auditioning people until seven p.m. James jumped up and gasped.

"WE HAVE TIME! I CAN BE A SUPER STAR WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE HALF AN HOUR!" He squealed.

"How are you guys going to get there in time?" Tommy asked. "It takes you guys forever just to walk there!"

"My mom can give us a lift…" Logan suggested. James squealed and grabbed Logan by his jacket collars." CALL YOUR MOM AND GET HER TO TAKE US RIGHT NOW! I MUST BE A STAR!"

"Okay okay!" Logan walked away taking out his cell phone to call his mom. I laughed and shook my head.

"Are you gonna come Hailey?"

"No, I'm going to take Tommy home, my parents are gonna be home soon so if they come back in time I will run to meet you at the audition spot, okay?"

"Fair enough." James nodded. "Wish me luck! I think I finally deserve that good luck kiss?"

"YOU ARE NOT GETTING A KISS FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!" Logan shouted tackling James to the floor.

"I think we should go…" Tommy whispered as James and Logan rolled around on the floor.

"I think so too…" I mumbled getting up. "Bye Kendall, Carlos, good luck!"

"Thanks Hails, see ya Tommy!" They waved at us and I walked next door with Tommy.

"Do you think James will be famous?" Tommy asked, walking to the kitchen and sliding onto a chair. "If he's famous do you think he'll still talk to us? He's my friend and I want to keep him."

"I'm pretty sure James will be the next big thing." I nodded, going to the refrigerator and pulling out a bowl of grapes, setting it in front of him. "And if he is famous, I bet he'll come back to visit and keep in contact with us. Don't worry Tommy, you won't lose James."

"Good. Cause that would suck." He nodded eating a few grapes. "Why didn't you date James?"

"I just didn't feel a spark with James." I shrugged sitting across from him. "It's different with Logan, I don't know. He just has such a cute grin with dimples, and he's so smart, and he can be sweet and shy, it's…it's adorable."

"Oh my god." Tommy stopped eating the grapes and stared at me. "Hailey are you in love?"

"Love is a strong word to use since we've been dating for about a month—"

"HAILEY'S IN LOVE WITH LOGAN AHAH!"

"Shut up Tommy! I can't be in love, I just like him a lot."

Oh god who am I kidding? Logan's my first kiss, first boyfriend, I just might be in love and I'm probably denying it. But… I don't know, I mean I'm sixteen; this whole thing is incredibly confusing to be honest with you. His grandmother says he's infatuated with me but it's not like we hang out alone anymore, it's just all of us together, we hung out alone maybe…three times in total so far? It sucks, I really think I like him more than he likes me but, you know what? I won't let that put a damper on things I'll just focus on keeping things normal and happy and I should be good.

Tommy and I waited for my parents to come home, when we saw sirens outside we both thought it was dad beating traffic and using the sirens to get home quicker. So we ran to the door and opened it, only to see his squad car parked in front of Kendall's house, and the boys standing there with police, and my dad there. My dad held Kendall's shoulder while talking to his mom. Then we noticed Kendall get yanked inside and the boys following him in. Logan glanced at me and frowned shaking his head. Something tells me James didn't win… My dad brought the car over to our driveway and parked the car, walking in. After we said hello I ran upstairs to my room and threw the window open. The boys were there waiting and I yelled at them.

"What happened!?"

"The guy is a complete jerk!" Carlos yelled.

"He insulted all of us!" Logan added.

"James did amazing and he totally ripped into him! So…after calling him a failure I jumped onto the table kicking everything around and um…kind of sang the stupid turd song." Kendall shrugged. "He doesn't get to insult my friends like that, as if he's some hot shot because he's not!"

"Well good for you Kendall!" I yelled nodding. "Sorry I couldn't make it….as you can see, dad just got home…I'm sorry James!"

"It's fine." James nodded but I can tell he was upset. "All you missed was the stupid turd song."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure." Kendall grinned and started singing, the boys joined in and it was hilarious. I feel bad that James didn't get it, and he was insulted on top of that, maybe I'll get them a cookie or something to make them feel better tomorrow. After a while of shouting to each other we said goodbye and I closed my window, and this time, closed the curtains so I could change into my pajamas.

The next day I went to the supermarket with the guys so we could all bother Kendall at work. I quickly went inside and bought a box of chocolate chip cookies, and they all attacked it no problem. While we were outside, me sitting in a shopping cart that Kendall was pushing to a row, that Gustavo guy walked over and James' eyes lit up. He ran right over to him.

"I knew it! You changed your mind and want to take me!"

"Not at all." Gustavo and his assistant looked over to Kendall. "I'm here for him."

"Me?"

"WHAT!?" James shouted. Kendall helped me out of the cart and we walked right over.

"Yes you. You've got that bad boy image and well…I can work with that. SO pack your stuff up, let's go, we're going to LA."

"Nope." Kendall shook his head.

"WHAT!?" Gustavo yelled.

"WHAT!?" We yelled too.

"I'm not going to LA unless I can bring my friends and family." Kendall crossed his arms over his chest with a smug smile.

"Absolutely not!"

"Well good luck getting your career back." Kendall shrugged; Gustavo growled and glanced at Kelly before looking back at Kendall.

"Fine fine… they can all come." They all cheered and started jumping around. I didn't jump around though, I just smiled and nodded and got into the limo, which dropped each of them all off at their houses to get their stuff and say goodbye. I stood at my house unsure of what just happened. It isn't just James leaving; it's all four of them. Kendall told me I was invited to come too but…let's be honest. That's not my thing…so I said no. He asked why and said I really should, that it'll be good for Logan and I but I told him no. So when the guys arrived at Kendall's house to leave I stood there saying goodbye to them and explaining why I wasn't going. Carlos frowned and gave me a tight hug, then reached into his pocket and gave me half a bag of jelly beans. James said goodbye, and gave me one of his head shots with his signature on it. Kendall and I hugged, and he told me it wasn't goodbye, because we could still all text and call each other. Logan took my hand and walked me to my door.

"Well, I guess this worked out for the best." Logan nodded.

"Huh?"

"Well 96% of all first relationships end in heartbreak, so me leaving makes this a lot easier to deal with, because at least we can just get it over with now. After all we've only been dating a month so it's not like we're madly in love with each other and have been dating for a while. Right?" Logan looked at me with an apologetic smile. I feel like he just took his fist and ripped out my heart like in Indiana Jones. How do you say something like that!? Shit he's right we haven't been dating long but…comes on! That's so cruel.

"Logan Mitchell you're a jerk." I frowned and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm not a jerk! It's just the statistics, they say—"

"WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT STATISTICS YOU HEARTLESS JERK! I HOPE YOU GO TO LA AND YOU MAKE MONEY AND YOU'RE NOT HAPPY!"

"Yeah? WELL GO RUN AROUND WITH DUKE! SINCE I KNOW YOU LIKE HIM SO MUCH1"

"DUKE!? I don't like him!"

"Why wouldn't you! He's tall and good looking and he's nice to you I see him talk to you Hailey. Don't lie to me…goodbye Hailey" Logan growled and before he could leave, Tommy was at the door. Tommy looked up at Logan.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah buddy… we uh…we're going to be a band in LA." Logan gestured at the limo behind them; Tommy nodded looking down at the snow, then up at Logan. He ran over and hugged Logan tightly. "Hey I'll keep in touch alright? I'll call you to see how you're doing." I shook my head and ran upstairs to my room to cry without Tommy seeing me upset. I looked out the window and watched as the boys said goodbye to Tommy one by one. They looked up at my window and waved to me, except Logan who just crawled into the car. I waved back and closed the windows.

I hate Minnesota.


End file.
